The following ten titles have been shortlisted for the 2020 Australian Christian Book of the Year Award.
The 2020 Australian Christian Book of the Year, Young Christian Writer and Teen Writer Awards will be announced and prizes presented at 7:30pm (AEST) on Thursday 13 August.
Join us online to hear from our winning authors and overseas project partners.
Shortlisted
Attending to the National Soul
Stuart Piggin & Robert Linder
9781925835366
Shortlisted
For the Love of God
Natasha Moore, John Dickson, Simon Smart & Justine Toh
Centre for Public Christianity
9780647530351
The Australian Christian Book of the Year Award is given annually to an original book written by an Australian citizen. The award recognises and encourages excellence in Australian Christian writing. The award carries a prize of $3,000 for the author, and a framed certificate for the author and publisher. Entries are judged with an eye to the:
Original nature of the work.
Literary style, including suitability for the target audience.
Design, layout, cover, text and illustrations.
Contribution that the book makes in meeting a need for Christian writing in Australian.
The Fountain of Public Prosperity: Evangelical Christians in Australian History 1740–1914 by Stuart Piggin and Robert Linder is the 2019 Australian Christian Book of the Year.
The award was accepted by Stuart Piggin, Conjoint Associate Professor of History at Macquarie University, and David Groenewegen from Monash University Publishing at the annual awards ceremony in Melbourne on Thursday 15 August.
Judges described the book as “a seminal and epic contribution to Australian Christian history, thoroughly researched, deeply insightful and a pleasure to read.” They noted the book’s critical function in correcting the general ignorance of the enormous influence of evangelical Christians in the development of Australia.
“It is a challenge for the historian to make visible that which has long been invisible. Australia’s Christian heritage has not so much been lost as never found. Evangelicals’ prescription for a Christian civilisation promoted policies where justice, compassion and prosperity for all flourished, and made a major contribution to the development of the Australia we know today. Understanding the fountain from which our present prosperity flows is the first step in reimagining a future for Australia.”
“This gripping and impressively researched book puts evangelical Christianity at the centre of the Australian story, from the eighteenth century through to World War I. It begins by recounting the friendship between a First Fleet officer, Lieutenant Dawes, and some of the Indigenous Eora. It goes on to introduce female suffragists and missionary workers, Chinese evangelists and moral reformers—a wide range of people who imagined their community and its future through the eyes of faith. Professors Piggin and Linder have devoted decades to unearthing the story of ‘Christlike citizenship’ in Australia, and the result is a fluent work of national and international importance. Offering a radical revision of some of the received wisdom about our nation, it can be read from cover to cover, enjoyed in sections and revisited as a reference. A landmark account of the enormous influence of evangelicals in shaping modern Australia.”
The Fountain of Public Prosperity:
Evangelical Christians in Australian History 1740–1914
Stuart Piggin & Robert D. Linder
Monash University Publishing
ISBN (hardback): 978-1-925523-46-1
ISBN (paperback): 978-1-925835-40-3
In The Bible in Australia, Meredith Lake gives an arresting and comprehensive account of how preachers, suffragists, unionists, politicians, writers, painters, musicians, immigrants and Indigenous peoples have used the Bible to shape Australian history and culture. Scripture arrived tattooed on the bodies of convicts aboard the First Fleet and, in the hands of Indigenous Christians, has nourished movements for justice, for land rights, and for recognition and reconciliation. Lake shows that Australia has been neither a secular society nor a Christian nation. At every level the Bible has been held to be everything from a resented imposition to the word of God. However, even while Bible reading and biblical literacy decline, the Bible is an indelible part of our story. This is a history of national importance and an insight into Australian culture.
The Bible in Australia: A Cultural History
Meredith Lake
NewSouth Publishing
ISBN 9781742235714
In Our Mob, God’s Story, sixty-six Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists from the city and the bush tell the story of the wonderful things God has done for their people. They paint in a dazzling variety of styles and write with uncommon wisdom and generosity. These artists share their vision of Jesus in order to bring us together as brothers and sisters. This inspiring book demonstrates what the recent census recorded: that Christian faith is more evident and alive in indigenous communities than in the dominant settler society. It is time for quiet appreciation and deep listening. Beautiful, confident and irresistible.
Our Mob, God’s Story: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Artists Share Their Faith
Edited by Louise Sherman and Christobel Mattingley
ISBN 9780647519585
The Australian Christian Book of the Year Award is given annually to an original book written by an Australian citizen. The award recognises and encourages excellence in Australian Christian writing. The ACBOY Award carries a prize of $3,000 for the author, and a framed certificate for the author and publisher. Entries are judged with an eye to the:
Original nature of the work.
Literary style, including suitability for the target audience.
Design, layout, cover, text and illustrations.
Contribution that the book makes in meeting a need for Christian writing in the Australian situation and in the Australian market.
Entries are read and judged by a panel selected by the SparkLit Council.
2019 Australian Christian Book of the Year
Winner. The Fountain of Public Prosperity: Evangelical Christians in Australian History 1740–1914 by Stuart Piggin & Robert D. Linder (Monash University Publishing)
Open 2019 awards results and judge’s comments.
2018 Australian Christian Book of the Year
Winner. The Bible in Australia: A Cultural History by Meredith Lake (NewSouth Publishing)
Open 2018 awards results and judges’ comments.
2017 Australian Christian Book of the Year
Winner. Our Mob, God’s Story: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Artists Share their Faith edited by Louise Sherman & Christobel Mattingley (Bible Society Australia)
Open 2017 awards results and judges’ comments.
2016 Australian Christian Book of the Year
Winner. Child Arise! The Courage to Stand by Jane Dowling (David Lovell Publishing)
Open 2016 awards results and judges’ comments.
2015 Australian Christian Book of the Year
Winner. Captains of the Soul by Michael Gladwin (Big Sky Publishing)
Open 2015 awards results and judges’ comments.
2014 Australian Christian Book of the Year
Winner. The Great Bible Swindle by Greg Clarke (Bible Society Australia)
Second Prize. In God They Trust? by Roy Williams (Bible Society Australia)
Third Prize. C. S. Lewis and the Body in the Basement by Kel Richards (Strand)
Open 2014 awards results and judges’ comments.
2013 Australian Christian Book of the Year
Winner. Forged with Flames by Ann Fogarty (Wild dingo Press)
Second Prize. Driven by Purpose by Stephen Judd, Anne Robinson & Felicity Errington (Hammond Press)
Third Prize. A Faith to Live By by Roland Ashby (Mosaic Press)
Open 2013 awards results and judges’ comments.
2012 Australian Christian Book of the Year
Winner. Gumbuli of Ngukurr: Aboriginal Elder in Arnhem Land by Murray Seiffert (Acorn Press)
Second Prize. A Short History of Christianity by Geoffrey Blainey (Viking-Penguin)
Third Prize. Love, Tears and Autism: An Australian Mother’s Journey from Heartbreak to Hope by Cecily Paterson (Ark House)
Open 2012 awards results and judges’ comments.
2011 Australian Christian Book of the Year
Winner. Economics for Life by Ian Harper (Acorn Press)
Second Prize. Christianity Alongside Islam by John Wilson (Acorn Press)
Third Prize. Judgment Day: The Struggle for Life on Earth by Paul Collins (UNSW Press)
Open 2011 awards results and judges’ comments.
2010 Australian Christian Book of the Year
Winner. Losing My Religion by Tom Frame (UNSW Press)
Second Prize. The Trellis and the Vine by Colin Marshall & Tony Payne (Matthias Media)
Third Prize. Desolate Beauty by Trudy Adams (Ark House Press)
Open 2010 awards results and judges’ comments.
2009 Australian Christian Book of the Year
Winner. No Ordinary View by Naomi Reed (Ark House Press)
Joint Second Prize. Catherine’s Gift: Inside the World of Dr Catherine Hamlin by John Little (Pan Macmillan)
Joint Second Prize. Leadership on the Front Foot by Zachary Veron (Youthworks)
Joint Second Prize. Preach or Perish: Reaching the Hearts and Minds of the World Today by Donald Howard (Donald and Nan Howard)
Open 2009 awards results and judges’ comments.
Darren Cronshaw pastors the Auburn Life Baptist Church in Melbourne. He has doctorates in practical theology and missiology and postgraduate qualifications in linguistics and education. He trains leaders as Professor of Missional Leadership and Head of Research with the Australian College of Ministries and serves as Chaplain with the Australian Army Reserve. Darren is married to Jenni; they have three children. He keeps fit with the Hawthorn Triathlon Club.
Barney Zwartz was a journalist with The Age for thirty-two years. He worked as letters editor, opinion editor, chief sub-editor and, for the final twelve years, religion editor. He won several awards for his coverage of two papal conclaves in Rome, the clergy sexual abuse crisis and Islam. He retired in 2013 but still writes about classical music and opera for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, and has a regular faith column in the Sunday Age. Barney is currently a senior fellow with the Centre for Public Christianity and media consultant to the Anglican Primate of Australia, Melbourne Archbishop Philip Freier. Barney is married to author Morag Zwartz. They have four children.
Judith Nichols has four children and fourteen grandchildren. She has a doctorate in classics and ancient history and qualifications in theology, missiology, education and linguistics. Judith and her late husband Tony ministered together in Indonesia, with Indigenous Australians at Nungalinya College and trained missionary candidates. She coordinates women’s ministry at Dalkeith Anglican Church, Perth.
