Australian Christian Book of the Year

2019 SparkLit Australian Christian Book of the Year Short List

The following ten titles have been shortlisted for the 2019 Australian Christian Book of the Year Award.

The 2019 Australian Christian Book of the Year, Young Australian Christian Writer and Australian Christian Teen Writer Awards will be announced and prizes presented during this year’s SparkLit Awards Night at 7.30 pm for 8.00 pm on Thursday evening 15 August 2019 at St Alfred’s Anglican Church, Blackburn North, Victoria.

Join us at this year’s Sparklit Awards Night.
Tickets $20.
Family $60. Please buy three tickets and send a guest list by email.
Buy tickets online or
grab your credit card and call 1300 13 7725 or
write to: admin@sparklit.org

Shortlisted

The Apostles’ Creed: A Guide to the Ancient Catechism

Benjamin Myers

Lexham Press

ISBN 9781683590880

Shortlisted

Coming Home: Discipleship, Ecology and Everyday Economics

Jonathan Cornford

Morning Star

ISBN 9780648453727

Shortlisted

For the Joy: 21 Australian Missionary Mother Stories on Cross-Cultural Parenting and Life

Edited by Miriam Chan & Sophia Russell

Grace Abounding Books

ISBN 9780648163718

Shortlisted

The Fountain of Public Prosperity: Evangelical Christians in Australian History 1740–1914

Stuart Piggin & Robert Linder

Monash University Publishing

ISBN 9781925523461

Shortlisted

God Is Good for You: A Defence of Christianity in Troubled Times

Greg Sheridan

Allen & Unwin

ISBN 9781760632601

Shortlisted

Heaven All Around Us: Discovering God in Everyday Life

Simon Carey Holt

Cascade Books

ISBN 9781498278850

Shortlisted

Tea & Thread: Portraits of Middle Eastern Women Far from Home

Sally Bathgate & Katrina Flett Gulbrandsen

Grace Abounding Books

ISBN 9780646972831

Shortlisted

This One Life: Conversations on the Journey of Life

Sharon Witt

Collective Wisdom Publications

ISBN 9780648373216

Shortlisted

Unexpected: Leave Fear Behind, Move Forward in Faith, Embrace the Adventure

Christine Caine

Zondervan

ISBN 9780310352327

Shortlisted

Workship 2: How to Flourish at Work

Kara Martin

Graceworks

ISBN 9789811172342

2018 Australian Christian Book of the Year a lively and revealing contribution to the debate about the role of faith in Australian life

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

The 2017 Australian Christian Book of the Year an irresistible treasury of Indigenous storytelling

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

Bible Society Australia

ISBN 9780647519585

Award criteria

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.

Entry form and conditions

Download entry here.

Awards results

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 judge’s comments.

2017 Australian Christian Book of the Year
Winner. Our Mob, God’s Story edited by Louise Sherman and Christobel Mattingley (Bible Society Australia)
Open 2017 awards results and judge’s 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 judge’s comments.

2015 Australian Christian Book of the Year
Winner. Captains of the Soul by Michael Gladwin (Big Sky Publishing)
Open 2015 awards results and judge’s comments.

2014 Australian Christian Book of the Year
Winner. The Great Bible Swindle by Greg Clarke (Bible Society Australia)
2nd Prize. In God They Trust? by Roy Williams (Bible Society Australia)
3rd Prize. C. S. Lewis and the Body in the Basement by Kel Richards (Strand)
Open 2014 awards results and judge’s comments.

2013 Australian Christian Book of the Year

Winner. Forged with Flames by Ann Fogarty (Wild dingo Press)
2nd Prize. Driven by Purpose by Stephen Judd, Anne Robinson & Felicity Errington (Hammond Press)
3rd Prize. A Faith to Live By by Roland Ashby (Mosaic Press)
Open 2013 awards results and judge’s comments.

2012 Australian Christian Book of the Year
Winner. Gumbuli of Ngukurr: Aboriginal elder in Arnhem Land by Murray Seiffert (Acorn Press)
2nd Prize. A Short History of Christianity by Geoffrey Blainey (Viking-Penguin)
3rd Prize. Love, Tears and Autism: An Australian Mother’s Journey from Heartbreak to Hope by Cecily Paterson (Ark House)
Open 2012 awards results and judge’s comments.

2011 Australian Christian Book of the Year
Winner. Economics for Life by Ian Harper (Acorn Press)
2nd Prize. Christianity Alongside Islam by John Wilson (Acorn Press)
3rd Prize. Judgment Day: The struggle for life on earth by Paul Collins (UNSW Press)
Open 2011 awards results and judge’s comments.

2010 Australian Christian Book of the Year
Winner. Losing My Religion by Tom Frame (UNSW Press)
2nd Prize. The Trellis and the Vine by Colin Marshall and Tony Payne (Matthias Media)
3rd Prize. Desolate Beauty by Trudy Adams (Ark House Press)
Open 2010 awards results and judge’s comments.

2009 Australian Christian Book of the Year
Winner. No Ordinary View by Naomi Reed (Ark House Press)
Joint 2nd Prize. Catherine’s Gift: Inside the World of Dr Catherine Hamlin by John Little (Pan Macmillan)
Joint 2nd Prize. Leadership on the Front Foot by Zachary Veron (Youthworks)
Joint 2nd 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 judge’s comments.

Australian Christian Book of the Year Award Judges

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.

Meredith Lake is an historian interested in the ways Australians have understood the big questions of faith and meaning. In the ten years since she completed her doctorate she’s had three children and written two books, including the 2018 Australian Christian Book of the Year, The Bible in Australia: A Cultural History. She lives with her family in Sydney and is currently the host of Soul Search on ABC Radio National.

Judith Nichols is married to Tony. They have four children and fourteen grandchildren. She has a doctorate in classics and ancient history and qualifications in theology, missiology, education and linguistics. Judith and Tony have ministered together in Indonesia, with Indigenous Australians at Nungalinya College and trained missionary candidates. She coordinates women’s ministry at Dalkeith Anglican Church, Perth.

Australian Christian Book of the Year Award

Young Australian Christian Writer Award

Australian Christian Teen Writer Award