Founded in 1982 by mystery reviewers Derrick Murdock and Doug Marshall, editor John Pierce and mystery and thriller authors Tony Aspler, Howard Engel, Tim Heald, and Larry Morse, Crime Writers of Canada (CWC) is now a national, non-profit organization.
Its mandate, then and now, is to promote crime writing in Canada and to raise the profile of the genre's established and aspiring authors.
Crime Fiction may include detective stories, mysteries, thrillers, tales of espionage and suspense, as well courtroom, police or forensic procedural dramas.
Celebrating the best in Canadian crime fiction with a juried annual competition, they draw readers’ and critics’ attention and the Unpublished category has launched several careers.
Judges are drawn from a pool of award-winning writers, reviewers, booksellers, librarians, and academics across Canada.