The Crime Writers' Association (CWA) Daggers are regarded by the publishing world as the foremost British awards for crime-writing. They are the oldest awards in the genre and have been synonymous with quality crime writing for more than 50 years.
What is the CWA Diamond Dagger Award?
The Diamond Dagger recognises authors whose crime writing careers have been marked by sustained excellence and is presented annually at the CWA Dagger Awards, which take place this year on the 3rd July. Nominations for the Dagger are recommended by CWA members. These picks are then narrowed down by industry experts before being voted for by a panel of past Diamond Dagger winners. Recent recipients of this accolade include Lynda La Plante and James Lee Burke, who were last year's winners, Peter James, Walter Mosley, Lee Child, Lawrence Block, Ian Rankin, Martina Cole, Ann Cleeves, Val McDermid and more.
Vaseem Khan, Chair of the CWA, said: “I am delighted that the Diamond Dagger judges have picked Mick as their recipient this year. Few could be more deserving. Mick is the quintessential writers' writer and his Slough House novels have, by general consensus, reinvented the spy thriller, going on to delight millions on the page and onscreen. The Diamond Dagger is a fitting tribute to a writer whose work has become both cultural marker and record of our time.”
Mick Herron's Slough House series has been adapted into Apple TV's hit Slow Horses series with Gary Oldman.
Born in Newcastle upon Tyne, Mick Herron studied English Literature at Oxford. He began writing fiction while working as a sub editor in London. Herron's debut novel, Down Cemetery Road stated his Zoë Boehm series in 2003.
Herron was inspired by world events in 2008 to begin his Slough House series which features MI5 agents who, for various offences, have been exiled from the mainstream. The first novel of this series is Slow Horses, the name not given to the Hit Apple TV adaptation starring Gary Oldman as Jackson Lamb. This series was well loved before making it to the screen. It has been published in twenty-five languages and the Daily Telegraph calling it one of “the twenty greatest spy novels of all time" some years after it was published. Herron's Zoë Boehm is set to be adapted into a major TV series too with a cast including Emma Thompson and Ruth Wilson.
Mick Herron has been a member of the CWA since 2004 and two of his books in the Slough House series have been awarded Daggers. Dead Lions won the CWA Gold Dagger in 2013 and in 2017 Herron picked up the Ian Fleming Steel Dagger for Spook Street.
While commenting on receiving this prestigious award Mick Herron said: “I’ve spent the best part of my life – not the majority of it; just the best part – in the crime writers’ community, and to receive this accolade from these friends and colleagues is both a career highlight and a personal joy. I’m touched and thrilled beyond measure, and will try to live up to the honour.”
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