Downers Grove, Il (November 30, 2024)
The Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA) recently announced the winners of The Christy Award in nine fiction categories, plus The Christy Book of the Year and The Amplify Award. The Christy Awards exists to celebrate excellence in the art of Christian fiction and to honor the power of faith in story.
The Christy Award Gala was held at the DoubleTree Suites at Hilton Hotel and Conference Center, in Downers Grove, just outside Chicago, and gathered over 200 publishers, authors, writers, and fans. The event was hosted by ECPA president Jeff Crosby and award winning novelist and radio host Chris Fabry, and featured a keynote by Sharon Hinck, Amanda Barratt, Sara Brunsvold, Laura Frantz, Elizabeth Goddard, Kristi Ann Hunter, Linda Mackillop, Katie Powner and Sara Watterson. Both Barratt and Powner won again this year in their categories: Historical category win for Barratt’s The Warsaw Sisters (Revell) and a General Fiction win for Powner’s for The Wind Blows in Sleeping Grass (Bethany House).
The 2024 Christy Book of the Year was presented to Indigo Isle by #1 international bestselling southern fiction novelist T.I. Lowe (Tyndale House Publishers), which also won in its category, Contemporary Romance. The book was also honored with a 2023 Top Shelf Book Cover Award for its design. Lowe’s bestselling Under the Magnolias was a Christy General Fiction finalist in 2022.
The program’s third Amplify Award was presented to The American Queen by Vanessa Miller (Thomas Nelson). The Amplify Award was created by publishers and agents to elevate and recognize under-represented ethnic stories and their authors. The novel has already received the 2024 American Fiction Award for African American Fiction and Historical Fiction, and was featured by Good Morning America as one of 15 new books to read.
The Christy Award winners for 2024:
THE CHRISTY BOOK OF THE YEAR
Indigo Isle, T.I. Lowe
Tyndale House Publishers
THE AMPLIFY AWARD FOR CHRISTIAN FICTION
The American Queen, Vanessa Miller
Thomas Nelson
CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE
Indigo Isle, T.I. Lowe
Tyndale House Publishers
FIRST NOVEL
An American Immigrant, Johanna Rojas Vann
WaterBrook, an imprint of Penguin Random House
GENERAL FICTION
The Wind Blows in Sleeping Grass, Katie Powner
Bethany House/ Baker Publishing Group
HISTORICAL
The Warsaw Sisters, Amanda Barratt
Revell/ Baker Publishing Group
HISTORICAL ROMANCE
Of Love and Treason, Jamie Ogle
Tyndale House Publishers
MYSTERY/SUSPENSE/THRILLER
The Vanishing at Castle Moreau, Jaime Jo Wright
Bethany House/ Baker Publishing Group
SHORT FORM
Star of Wonder (within We Three Kings), Crystal Caudill
Kregel Publications
SPECULATIVE
In This Moment, Gabrielle Meyer
Bethany House/ Baker Publishing Group
YOUNG ADULT – tie
Offsides, Lori Z. Scott
End Game Press
Sky of Seven Colors, Rachelle Nelson
Enclave Escape, a division of Oasis Family Media