For Immediate Release — August 23, 2024

Christy Award Gala & Art of Writing speakers announced for Chicago program on Nov. 14

Winners Gala to feature a host of Christy-winning novelists including CHRIS FABRY, AMANDA BARRATT, SHARON HINCK, and LYNN AUSTIN – with honors to the literary imagination of J.R.R. Tolkien, given by MALCOLM GUITE and others

Art of Writing conference to gather writers, agents, and publishers for afternoon conference preceding Gala

AUGUST 22, 2024, Tempe, AZ – The Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA) has announced the in-person program for The Christy Award fall events that include the Celebration Gala for the industry’s top award for Christian fiction – and a four-part Art of Writing series for creatives, publishers, writers, and fans.

Both events will be held on November 14 in Chicago at the DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Hotel & Conference Center, Chicago/Downers Grove.

Early bird registration is now open.

AMANDA BARRATT, author of 2023 Christy Book of the Year® Within These Walls of Sorrow (Kregel Publications), will be the featured speaker at the CHRISTY AWARD GALA that evening, which will also include Christy Hall of Fame inductee SHARON HINCK, and bestselling author and radio host CHRIS FABRY as emcee. The evening will also announce the 2024 winners of The Christy Award in nine categories, The Christy Award Book of the Year®, and the Amplify Award. Last year’s winning authors will be on hand to announce and congratulate this year’s winners: Sharon Hinck, Amanda Barratt, Sara Brunsvold, Laura Frantz, Elizabeth Goddard, Kristi Ann Hunter, Anna Rose Johnson, Linda MacKillop, Katie Powner, and Sara Watterson.

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, and founder of the International Inklings Day Substack, JAMIE LAPEYROLERIE.

Leading up to the Gala, will be the 8th annual ART OF WRITING conference. The four-session conference will bring together writers, creatives, and publishing curators for training and connection around these topics:

– The Balance of the Art of Writing and the Business of Publishing with Tyndale Fiction publisher KAREN WATSON, and agents DANIELLE EGAN-MILLER and CYNTHIA RUCHTI

– Processing Pain through Writing and Reading Christian Fiction
This LIVE Moody Radio show with CHRIS FABRY will feature therapists turned authors AMANDA COX and KELLY FLANAGAN

– Authors as Marketers: How to Build a Thriving Ecosystem with Tyndale Fiction’s Senior Marketing Manager ANDREA GARCIA

– What Is Christian Fiction? Writing for a Broader Audience: Author Panel

“With each passing year I am more aware of the power that stories have to communicate goodness, truth, beauty and hope in our world,” states ECPA president Jeff Crosby. “And because of that, I am honored to be associated with the annual Christy Gala which honors excellence in Christian fiction and the Art of Writing conference that nurtures the work of writers of faith and contributes tools as they refine their craft.”

The Christy Award Finalists will be revealed by free webcast on September 12 with Christy Hall of Fame author CHRIS FABRY and ECPA president JEFF CROSBY. Three finalists in nine categories will be named. Register here.

Bundle early bird pricing for the Gala and the conference is $139. Early bird rates end September 13. For publishers attending ECPA PubU, the Art of Writing conference is included in their registration.

Program information: TheChristyAward.com.
Registration and hotel information: ChristyAwards.com/registration.html
Promotional partners include JustRead Tours, Crazy4Fiction, Family Fiction, Baker Book House, Chris Fabry Live, Reading Is My Superpower, ACFW, Christian Editors Association, and Life Is Story.

ECPA (Evangelical Christian Publishers Association) is an international non-profit trade organization comprised of member companies that are involved in the publishing and distribution of Christian content worldwide. Since 1974, ECPA has strengthened Christian publishing by building networking, information, and advocacy opportunities within the industry and throughout multiple channels so that our members can more effectively produce and deliver transformational Christian content. ECPA.org

The Christy Award® is the foremost award honoring and promoting excellence in Christian fiction since 1999, and is named for Catherine Marshall’s novel, Christy, which has sold over 10 million copies since its publication in 1967. ECPA assumed ownership and administration of the award in 2017 to focus and grow the unique opportunity of fiction in Christian publishing.
TheChristyAward.com FB ChristyAward TW @ChristyAward IG @thechristyaward

Media contacts:
Jeff Crosby, ECPA President, jcrosby@ecpa.org, 630-9890-022
Cindy Carter, ECPA Awards & Recognition Manager, ccarter@ecpa.org, 480-966-3998 ext. 103

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