Last night at The Christy Award Gala, the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA) announced the winners of The Christy Award in nine fiction categories, plus The Christy Book of the Year® and The Amplify Award. The Christy Award 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 AMANDA BARRATT, author of the 2023 Christy Book of the Year.
Last year’s winning authors presented this year’s awards: 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 Americaas one of 15 new books to read.
A winning tie was named in the Young Adult category for Offsides by Lori Z. Scott(End Game Press) and Sky of Seven Colors by Rachelle Nelson (Enclave Escape).
Also honored last evening was award-winning speculative author SHARON HINCK, who was inducted into the Christy Hall of Fame with remarks from inaugural Hall of Fame novelist LYNN AUSTIN. Hinck won the Speculative category for the fourth year in a row last year, and has won four Christy Awards and four Carol Awards for her novels.
Further honoring fantasy, science fiction and the supernatural in Christian fiction, the literary imagination of J.R.R. TOLKIEN was honored throughout the evening with remarks from poet, scholar, and Anglican priest MALCOLM GUITE and from WaterBrook editor JAMIE LAPEYROLERIE, who runs a site dedicated to C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien and is the founder of the International Inklings Day.
“Stories have a unique power to entertain, encourage, inspire and prompt reflection,” stated ECPA president Jeff Crosby. “The novels that rose to the status of both finalists and winners all embody those qualities. I extend my sincere congratulations to each of the winning authors and publishing teams that were recognized with the prestigious Christy Award for 2024.”
Presenting 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
The winners are posted at christyawards.com/finalists-winners.html and will soon be featured in an e-blast from Christianity Today.
The Christy Award receives widespread support and promotion from these promotional partners, retailers, sponsors, and media: JustRead Publicity Tours, ACFW, Crazy4Fiction, Chris Fabry Live, Christian Editors Association, Family Fiction, JustRead Rendezvous, Life is Story, Reading is My Superpower, West Coast Christian Writers, Write to Publish; Baker Book House, Christian Retailers Association, Christianbook.com, The Parable Group, Logos, Mardel, More to Life, NetGalley; Bethany Press, Ingram/Spring Arbor, and Christianity Today.
For more information about The Christy Award program and to sign up for award and event updates for the 2025 season, visit TheChristyAward.com. Submissions for 2025 will be accepted March 1-31.
PHOTO OF WINNING AUTHORS:
From left to right: Jeff Crosby, Lori Z. Scott, Rachelle Nelson, Crystal Caudill, Katie Powner, Johanna Rojas Vann, Jamie Ogle, Gabrielle Meyer, Amanda Barratt, Karen Watson (Fiction Publisher, Tyndale House Publishers) accepting for T.I. Lowe, Jaime Jo Wright, and Chris Fabry. Not present: Vanessa Miller (Amanda Bostic, VP and Publisher of HarperCollins Christian Publishing, accepted the award on Vanessa’s behalf).
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