It’s that time of year again when the Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) seeks the help of people working and volunteering in libraries, as well as borrowers, to nominate the very best in crime writers for its annual Dagger in the Library prize.
What sets the award apart from other Daggers is the fact that authors and publishers cannot make submissions, which have instead to come from library staff and volunteers and readers, who make their suggestions through them. The 2025 award went to Richard Osman.
Crime writer John Dean, who lives in Dumfries and Galloway and is the CWA’s Library champion in Scotland, said: ‘The library community has responded brilliantly since we streamlined the nominations process a couple of years ago and we very much appreciate the thought that goes into suggesting possible winners. I am sure that the 2026 prize will be as keenly contested as the 2025 one.’
Dates for the diary:
The deadline for 2026 nominations is December 6, 2025
Longlist announced: 16 April, 2026
Shortlist announced: 29 May, 2026
Winner announced at the Daggers Awards in July 2026 Further details can be found at https://thecwa.co.uk/which includes specially-designed posters for libraries to download and use to promote the award
John Dean - Crime Writer 
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