About

The CWC Awards

for Excellence in

Canadian Crime Writing

Submissions for 2021 Awards open
1 September, 2020.

About the Awards

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 are presented annually in the following categories (pending sufficient numbers.)

For published works:

• Best Novel sponsored by Rakuten Kobo with a $1000 prize
• The Best First Novel with a $500 prize
• Best Novella sponsored by Mystery Weekly with a $200 prize
• Best Short Story sponsored by Mystery Weekly with a $300 prize
• Best French Book (Fiction and Nonfiction)
• Best Juvenile or YA Book (Fiction and Nonfiction) sponsored by Shaftesbury with a $500 prize
• Best Nonfiction Book

For unpublished novels:

• The Award for Best Unpublished Manuscript with a $500 prize sponsored by ECW Press

The Awards are open to permanent residents of Canada, or by Canadian citizens living abroad.