Tempe, AZ (September 16, 2024)
The Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA) announced the 2024 finalists for the The Christy Award program in an online webcast hosted by Christy Hall of Fame author Chris Fabry and ECPA president Jeff Crosby. The Christy Award exists to celebrate excellence in the art of Christian fiction and to honor the power of faith in story.
Thirty-three finalists were named in nine categories, with six ties in five categories. The named finalists represent the work of eleven publishers. Winners from each category, plus the Christy Book of the Year and Amplify Award, will be announced at The Christy Award Gala held on Thursday, November 14 at 7 pm central in Downers Grove, Illinois at the DoubleTree Conference Center, just outside Chicago.
Hosted by award winning novelist and radio host Chris Fabry, the Gala will feature the induction of award-winning speculative author Sharon Hinck into the Christy Hall of Fame with remarks from inaugural Hall of Fame novelist Lynn Austin. The evening will also include a keynote from Amanda Barratt, author of 2023 Christy Book of the Year, Within These Walls of Sorrow (Kregel Publications) and the presentation of this year’s awards by last year’s winning authors: Sharon Hinck, Amanda Barratt, Sara Brunsvold, Laura Frantz, Elizabeth Goddard, Kristi Ann Hunter, Anna Rose Johnson, Linda MacKillop, Katie Powner, and Sara Watterson.
In addition, the literary imagination of J.R.R. Tolkien will be honored throughout the evening by poet, scholar, and Anglican priest Malcolm Guite; accomplished agent of many of the industry’s award-winning speculative titles Steve Laube; and WaterBrook editor, who is the founder of the International Inklings Day Substack, Jamie Lapeyrolerie.
Leading up to the Gala, an afternoon of seminars will be presented as the Art of Writing conference, which will bring together writers, creatives, and publishing curators for training and connection around Christian fiction writing. Sessions will be led by publishers Karen Watson and Andrea Martin (Tyndale House); agents Danielle Egan-Miller and Cynthia Ruchti; and authors Amanda Cox, Kelly Flanagan, Chris Fabry, Robin W. Pearson, Dani Pettrey, and others.
The Art of Writing sessions follow the publisher training event, ECPA PubU, held November 13-14, at the same location. Registration is open for the Winners Gala and Art of Writing at TheChristyAward.com. A special bundle rate is available and early bird extends until September 13. (ECPA members attending PubU can register for these events on their PubU registration form.)
“Next year, the Christy Award events will be online so it will be wonderful to gather in-person this year as we honor excellence in Christian fiction through the 2024 Christy Awards,” stated ECPA president Jeff Crosby. “This is a unique opportunity to gather novelists, their publishers, and readers of Christian fiction all in one place to celebrate life-changing literary content.”
The Finalists in nine fiction categories are:
CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE – tie
Her Only Wish, Shelley Shepard Gray (Revell/Baker Publishing Group)
Indigo Isle, T.I. Lowe (Tyndale House Publishers)
The Rhythm of Fractured Grace, Amanda Wen (Kregel Publications)
The Thing About Home, Rhonda McKnight (Thomas Nelson)
FIRST NOVEL
A Fifth of the Story, Dr. Katherine Hutchinson Hayes (End Game Press)
An American Immigrant, Johanna Rojas Vann (WaterBrook)
On Moonberry Lake, Holly Varni (Revell/Baker Publishing Group)
GENERAL FICTION – tie
He Should Have Told the Bees, Amanda Cox (Revell/Baker Publishing Group)
The Last Exchange, Charles Martin (Thomas Nelson)
The Wind Blows in Sleeping Grass, Katie Powner (Bethany House/Baker Publishing Group)
The Year of Jubilee, Cindy Morgan (Tyndale House Publishers)
HISTORICAL
Appalachian Song, Michelle Shocklee (Tyndale House Publishers)
The Foxhole Victory Tour, Amy Lynn Green (Bethany House/Baker Publishing Group)
The Warsaw Sisters, Amanda Barratt (Revell/Baker Publishing Group)
HISTORICAL ROMANCE
A Winter by the Sea, Julie Klassen (Bethany House/Baker Publishing Group)
Of Love and Treason, Jamie Ogle (Tyndale House Publishers)
The Seamstress of Acadie, Laura Frantz (Revell/Baker Publishing Group)
MYSTERY/ SUSPENSE/ THRILLER
8 Down, Kimberley Woodhouse (Kregel Publications)
The Lost Boys of Barlowe Theater, Jaime Jo Wright (Bethany House/Baker Publishing Group)
The Vanishing at Castle Moreau, Jaime Jo Wright (Bethany House/Baker Publishing Group)
SHORT FORM – tie
Beauty Bright (within We Three Kings), Cara Putman (Kregel Publications)
The Poppy (within Dancing in the Rain), Sara Davison (Sara Davison)
The Shifting Current, Dani Pettrey (Dani Pettrey)
Star of Wonder (within We Three Kings), Crystal Caudill (Kregel Publications)
You Make It Feel Like Christmas, Toni Shiloh (Bethany House/Baker Publishing Group)
SPECULATIVE – tie
Estuary, Lisa T. Bergren (Enclave)
In This Moment, Gabrielle Meyer (Bethany House/Baker Publishing Group)
Lumen, J.J. Fischer (Enclave)
Shadowcast, Crystal D. Grant (Quill & Flame Publishing House)
YOUNG ADULT – tie
The Looking-Glass Illusion, Sara Ella (Enclave Escape)
Offsides, Lori Z. Scott (End Game Press)
Once a Queen, Sarah Arthur (WaterBrook)
Sky of Seven Colors, Rachelle Nelson (Enclave Escape)
The Christy Award receives widespread support and promotion from these promotional partners, retailers, and sponsors: JustRead Publicity Tours, Crazy4Fiction, Family Fiction, Christian Editors Association, Chris Fabry Live, Reading is My Superpower, Life is Story, Faithfully Bookish, JustRead Rendezvous, ACFW, Christian Retailers Association, Baker Book House, Christianbook.com, The Parable Group, Logos, Mardel, More to Life, NetGalley, Ingram/Spring Arbor, Christianity Today, and Bethany Press.
On November 15, attendees are invited to extend their love of Christian fiction by staying over for the author and reader fiction conference event, JustRead Rendezvous, held at the same hotel. (Those who register for The Christy Award events can receive a discount on JustRead Rendezvous registration.)
Learn more about The Christy Award and register for the Gala and Art of Writing at www.TheChristyAward.com.