About the CWC Awards of Excellence
The Awards are for CRIME WRITING and are not restricted to mystery writing. Crime-writing encompasses far more than the traditional whodunit. The crime genre includes crime, detective, espionage, mystery, suspense, and thriller writing, as well as fictional or factual accounts of criminal doings and crime-themed literary works. If you are not certain that your submission qualifies as a crime book or story, please contact us at awards@crimewriterscanada.com
Awards are presented annually in the following categories (pending sufficient numbers.)
For published works:
- The Peter Robinson Award for Best Crime Novel sponsored by Rakuten Kobo, with a $1000 prize (Min. 50,000 words)
- Best Crime First Novel sponsored by Melodie Campbell with a $1,000 prize(Min. 50,000 words AND author’s 1st novel in any genre.)
- The Whodunit Award for Best Traditional Mystery sponsored by Jane Doe, with a $500 prize (Min. 50,000 words)
- The Howard Engel Award for Best Crime Novel Set in Canada sponsored by Charlotte Engel and CWC with a $500 prize. (Min. 50,000 words)
- Best Crime Novella (8,001 - 49,999 words)
- Best Crime Short Story (Max. 8,000 words)
- Best French Crime Book (Fiction and Nonfiction)
- Best Juvenile or YA Crime Book sponsored by Shaftesbury with a $500 prize (Fiction and Nonfiction)
- The Brass Knuckles Award for Best Nonfiction Crime Book sponsored by David Reid Simpson Law Firm (Hamilton) with a $300 prize
For unpublished novels:
- The Award for Best Unpublished Manuscript
The Awards are open to permanent residents of Canada, or by Canadian citizens living abroad.
THE 2024 AWARDS OF EXCELLENCE SHORTLISTS
The Peter Robinson Award for Best Crime Novel sponsored by Rakuten Kobo, with a $1000 prize
Robyn Harding, The Drowning Woman, Grand Central Publishing
Shari Lapena, Everyone Here is Lying, Doubleday Canada
Scott Thornley, Middlemen, House of Anansi Press
Sam Wiebe, Sunset and Jericho, Harbour Publishing
Loreth Anne White, The Maid's Diary, Montlake
Best Crime First Novel, sponsored by Melodie Campbell, with a $1000 prize
Jann Arden, The Bittlemores, Random House Canada
Lisa Brideau, Adrift, Sourcebooks
Charlotte Morganti, The End Game, Halfdan Press
Amanda Peters, The Berry Pickers, Harper Perennial
Steve Urszenyi, Perfect Shot, Minotaur
The Howard Engel Award for Best Crime Novel Set in Canada, sponsored by Charlotte Engel and Crime Writers of Canada, with a $500 prize
Gail Anderson-Dargatz, The Almost Widow, Harper Avenue/HarperCollins
Renee Lehnen, Elmington, Storeyline Press
Cyndi MacMillan, Cruel Light, Crooked Lane
Joan Thomas, Wild Hope, Harper Perennial/HarperCollins
Melissa Yi, Shapes of Wrath, Windtree Press
The Whodunit Award for Best Traditional Mystery sponsored by Jane Doe, with a $500 prize
Gail Bowen, The Legacy, ECW Press
Vicki Delany, Steeped in Malice, Kensington Books
Vicki Delany, The Game is a Footnote, Crooked Lane Books
Nita Prose, The Mystery Guest, Viking
Iona Whishaw, To Track a Traitor, TouchWood Editions
Best Crime Short Story
M.H. Callway, Wisteria Cottage, Wildside Press (for Malice Domestic)
Marcelle Dubé, Reversion, Mystery Magazine
Mary Keenan The Canadians (Killin' Time in San Diego), Down & Out Books
donalee Moulton, Troubled Water, Black Cat Weekly (Wildside Press)
Zandra Renwick, American Night, Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine
The Best French Language Crime Book (Fiction and Nonfiction)
Jean-Philippe Bernié, La punition, Glénat Québec
Chrystine Brouillet, Le mois des morts, Éditions Druide
Catherine Lafrance, Le dernier souffle est le plus lourd, Éditions Druide
André Marois, La sainte paix, Héliotrope
Jean-Jacques Pelletier, Rien, Alire
Best Juvenile/YA Crime Book, sponsored by Shaftesbury Films with a $500 prize (Fiction and Nonfiction)
Kelley Armstrong, Someone is Always Watching, Tundra Books
Cherie Dimaline, Funeral Songs for Dying Girls, Tundra Books
Rachelle Delaney, The Big Sting, Tundra Books
Clara Kumagai, Catfish Rolling, Penguin Teen Canada
Kevin Sands, Champions of the Fox, Puffin Canada
The Brass Knuckles Award for Best Nonfiction Crime Book sponsored by David Reid Simpson Law Firm (Hamilton), with a $300 prize
Josef Lewkowicz and Michael Calvin, The Survivor: How I Survived Six Concentration Camps and Became a Nazi Hunter, HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
Michael Lista, The Human Scale, Véhicule Press
David Rabinovitch, Jukebox Empire, Rowman & Littlefield
Bill Waiser and Jennie Hansen, Cheated, ECW Press
Carolyn Whitzman, Clara at the Door with a Revolver, UBC Press, On Point Press
Best Unpublished Crime Novel manuscript written by an unpublished author
Tom Blackwell, The Patient
Craig H. Bowlsby, Requiem for a Lotus
Sheilla Jones and James Burns, Murder on Richmond Road: An Enquiry Bureau Mystery
Nora Sellers, The Forest Beyond
William Wodhams, Thirty Feet Under
Winners will be announced on the Crime Writers of Canada website on May 29th, 2024.
The winners will be announced on Wednesday May 29th, 2024 @12 AM ET.
Deadlines
The Submission Rules for the Published Categories and Unpublished Category are posted on the first of September.
Unpublished submissions must be received via email by 15 October 2023.
Published submissions must be postmarked or courier dated by 15 December 2023.
Shortlists Announcement
The CWC Awards of Excellence Shortlists presentation takes place mid-April. Details will be posted and updated on the Home Page in March and the list will be posted on the website after the announcement on this page.
Presentation of Winners
The winners will be announced in May 2024.
Contact Information
Crime Writers of Canada Awards
716 Thicket Way
Ottawa, ON
K4A 3B5
Canada
We would like the thank our sponsors for their support, as well as the publishers and authors without whom there would be no Crime Writers of Canada Awards of Excellence.
