The 2011 Christy Awards were given out at the annual dinner held the evening of July 11 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia.
The awards began just before 7 p.m. local time with Emcee Liz Curtis Higgs welcoming the attendees, after which the nominees were announced, and each of the authors went onstage where they received a medal (the winners received trophies). After the meal Donna Kehoe the executive director of the Christy Awards presented the year in review, followed by the keynote speech by Randall Wallace. Around 9:15 the 2011 Christy Award winners were announced.
The Christy Awards were first awarded in 2000, and honor each year excellent Christian fiction, in a variety of categories. Each year publishers submit books for the categories and the winners are chosen by a board of seven people familiar with the publishing world.
The nominees and winners of this years’ Christy Awards are: (Winners are in Bold)
Contemporary Romance
Blood Ransom by Lisa Harris
Indivisible by Kristin Heitzmann*
Sworn to Protect by DiAnn Mills
Contemporary Series, Sequels, and Novellas
The Reluctant Prophet by Nancy Rue *
The Thorn by Beverly Lewis
The Waiting by Suzanne Woods Fisher
Contemporary Standalone
Almost Heaven by Chris Fabry*
Lady in Waiting by Susan Meissner
A Season of Miracles by Rusty Whitener*
First Novels
Crossing Oceans by Gina Holmes*
Heartless by Anne Elisabeth Stengl
A Season of Miracles by Rusty Whitener*
Historical
Chosen: The Lost Diaries of Queen Esther by Ginger Garrett
For Time & Eternity by Allison Pitman
While We’re Far Apart by Lynn Austin
Historical Romance
The Girl in the Gatehouse by Julie Klassen
She Walks in Beauty by Siri Mitchell
Within My Heart by Tamera Alexander
Suspense
The Bishop by Steven James*
The Bride Collector by Ted Dekker
Predator by Terri Blackstock
Visionary
To Darkness Fled by Jill Williamson
Konig’s Fire by Marc Schooley
The Last Christian by David Gregory
Young Adult
The Charlatan’s Boy by Jonathan Rogers
The Healer’s Apprentice by Melanie Dickerson
Motorcycles, Sushi, and One Strange Book by Nancy Rue
Nancy Rue became the first author to win two awards in one year. (All information taken from the Christy Awards Website.)
* I've read these.
Father, please bless those who write for your glory. No award can beat the pleasure of our obedience to you. Thank you for that privilege. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
"Visionary"? What sort of category is that?
Thanks for compiling the list. It would be an interesting place to conduct research on the state of Christian fiction.
Oh, by the way, I think Brayden and I are going to give co-authoring a try. It should be fun and certainly different than anything I've ever done.
Posted by: Jessica Thomas | July 12, 2011 at 07:15 AM
Congratulations to all the winners. These are the one book awards I really look forward to each year to find Christian fiction's best.
I'm just disappointed that Rusty Whitener didn't win in either of the categories for which he was nominated. I loved A Season of Miracles.
And I'm always perplexed at lumping Amish into the contemporary category. Seems to me it should have a category all its own.
Posted by: Brenda Anderson | July 12, 2011 at 07:22 AM
Brenda, I'm not always impressed with this Awards or the winners or the categories. Granted that some of the best are selected, but possibly an equal amount are left out altogether. Whether that's because their publishers didn't nominate them or not I don't know. And I agree that the categories are lacking specificity which really hinders some of the valid selections and winners of the group.
Jess, "Visionary" is the PC title for fantasy in CBA because we all know that "Fantasy" doesn't sell in the CBA. Yeah, uh-huh. And congratulations for deciding to work with Brayden. He's an awesome young man with a good head on his shoulders for all of his 15 years of living. ! I'll be anxious to hear how the work goes. Keep me informed!
Posted by: Nicole | July 12, 2011 at 08:38 AM