“Curtis Brown is thrilled to be part of this collaboration between Dead Ink and Curtis Brown / Conville & Walsh. We are always looking for ways to reach out to all the incredibly talented writers we know are out there, and by focusing specifically on northern regions, we hope to find some amazing fresh new crime and can’t wait to read the submissions.” — Alice Lutyens, Curtis Brown
Ahead of announcing a new list next year focussed entirely around northern crime fiction, Dead Ink is launching an open submission window for our forthcoming anthology, Motives Unknown.
Writers with a strong northern connection or writers composing work set in the North of England are invited to send in their short stories in the crime, thriller and suspense genres when submissions open later in the year. We’re looking for works in the genre that have that Dead Ink touch — compellingly written, transgressive, bold and daring.
We’re on the hunt for new talent as we prepare for a new venture and we want to foreground writers from our home region. We want to see everything that the region has to offer from the urban to the rural, from the Tyne to the Mersey. The North is an evocative landscape that can be as beautiful as it is harsh and as forward facing as it is built upon deep histories.
We’ve partnered with literary agencies Curtis Brown and Conville & Walsh and their agents will be reading initial submissions. Every writer featured in the anthology will receive a consultation with one of their agents, in addition to a fee for their story.
The stories must be by authors with strong links to the North of England as defined by Arts Council England. Contributors must be unagented at the time of submission.
“We’ll release more details when we open the submission window in June, but for now … get writing.‘C&W is delighted to be partnering with Dead Ink in their search for ground-breaking new voices in northern literary crime. We hope that the anthology will provide an invaluable platform for undiscovered talent and our agents are so looking forward to connecting with the writers featured in the anthology.” — Sophie Lamber, Conville & Walsh
Submissions are now open and the details are as follows:
- Crime fiction from writers with strong northern ties or crime fiction set in the North of England.
- Short fiction should be between 1,000 and 6,000 words in length.
- The deadline has been extended until midnight on the 19th of August.
- The submitted file must be a Word doc or a PDF.
- The subject line of the email must be Submission: “STORY TITLE” – “AUTHOR NAME”
- Please send submissions to northerncrime@deadinkbooks.com
- Please include a word count and short author bio.
About Curtis Brown:
Founded in 1899, the Books Department of Curtis Brown has been at the forefront of international publishing and a leading literary agency for over one hundred years. Today we represent many of the world’s best-selling and award-winning authors.
About Conville & Walsh:
Conville & Walsh is a dynamic London-based literary agency that sits within the Curtis Brown Group. C&W has a stellar reputation for championing talented new voices and nurturing established authors with the passion and dedication every writer deserves. Our agents are proud to represent a diverse array of international bestsellers and prize-winners, and our goal is always to support writers at every stage of their career to find their readers.
About Arts Council England:
Arts Council England is the national development agency for creativity and culture. We have set out our strategic vision in Let’s Create that by 2030 we want England to be a country in which the creativity of each of us is valued and given the chance to flourish and where everyone of us has access to a remarkable range of high-quality cultural experiences. From 2023 to 2026 we will invest over £467 million of public money from Government and an estimated £250 million from The National Lottery each year to help support the sector and to deliver this vision. www.artscouncil.org.uk