Crime Writers' Association

The Crime Writers' Association was founded in 1953, on the initiative of John Creasey, to support professional crime writers and promote the genre.

I have been a member of the CWA since 1987, and in the same year I attended the first meeting of the Northern Chapter of the CWA, set up by Peter N. Walker and still going strong. The Northern Chapter has published three anthologies under my editorship, and I co-edited with Robert Church an anthology produced by the East Anglian Chapter.

Since 1996, I have edited the CWA's official anthology; titles include Mysterious Pleasures, which celebrated the CWA's Golden Jubilee in 2003. The latest anthology is M.O.: Crimes of Practice.

In 2000, Margaret Murphy set up Murder Squad, a collective of seven members of the Northern Chapter, including myself. Since then, many similar groupings have sprung up around the UK.

Currently, I chair the CWA's Diamond Dagger nominations sub-committee and since 2007 I have been the CWA's archivist. The archives are currently held at the Galleries of Justice in Nottingham, and are in the process of being catalogued.

For further information about the CWA, take a look at its official and regularly updated website.