The Daggers Go Glitzy

There’s finally some news about what will be done with the remainder of this year’s Dagger Awards, now that the British Crime Writers’ Association has found new sponsors for its annual presentation of prizes. (The previous sponsor was of course the private banking firm Duncan Lawrie Ltd.) A press release on this matter explains:

Specsavers, Cactus TV, and ITV3 in partnership with the Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) are pleased to announce they will join forces to celebrate the Specsavers Crime Thriller Awards 2009. Following the success of last year’s inaugural event on ITV3, the 2009 event will be merged with the Crime Writers’ Association Daggers and the new combined “Specsavers Crime Thriller Awards on ITV3” will take place on Wednesday, 21st October, 2009.

The exciting new partnership is a 3-year deal between the four parties. The initiative has the support of leading publishers and highstreet retailers and will have posters and stickered books in shops and supermarkets and coverage in the press, reinforcing the Specsavers Crime Thriller Awards as a major industry event.

The culmination of a six-week season of ITV3 crime and drama programming, the Specsavers Crime Thriller Awards (“Daggers”) will be a glittering occasion at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel. The awards ceremony will celebrate the crème de la crème of Crime & Thriller fiction with awards focusing on the best of British and International crime thriller novels.

Literary Awards presented will include the CWA Gold Dagger for best crime novel of the year, the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger for best thriller, the CWA John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger for a new author of note, and the Hall Of Fame Dagger, which honours the achievements of the genre’s greatest exponents, past and present. In addition, the evening will introduce a brand new award--the ITV3 Bestseller Dagger, sponsored by Specsavers--voted for by ITV3 viewers.

The Specsavers Crime Thriller Awards will also celebrate crime fiction off the page with awards focusing on the greatest crime and thriller films and TV dramas of the year--along with the actors who brought the characters to life. Each award of the evening will be presented by celebrity faces with a connection to the world of crime fiction--last year’s presenters included Dame Helen Mirren and Ricky Gervais.

The full press release can be found here.

Attending this year’s Dagger Awards ceremony may prove challenging for yours truly. I expect to be jet-lagged during the festivities, since I will only have just arrived back in Britain from Bouchercon in Indianapolis. But needs must when the devils drives, I guess.