JourneyOnline
THE Australian Christian Book of the Year was announced on 16 August at the Australian Christian Literature Awards in Melbourne.
Gumbuli of Ngukurr by Murray Seiffert (Acorn Press) emerged from a tight field of over 40 entries, with the judges praising it as "a unique and timely contribution to the story of Aboriginal engagement with western culture and Christianity.
"Always informative, it also, at times, makes for profoundly uncomfortable and provocative reading.
This singular story of Indigenous protagonism, self-determination and leadership in the face of overwhelming obstacles – hostile opposition, blind ignorance and numbing indifference – maps a way forward for the peoples of this continent."
Geoffrey Blainey took second prize with A Short History of Christianity (Viking), and Love, Tears and Autism: An Australian Mother's Journey from Heartbreak to Hope (Ark House) by Cecily Paterson third prize.
The Australian Christian Literature Awards recognise and celebrate excellence in Australian Christian writing, and also include prizes for unpublished manuscripts by young writers.
Claire van Ryn won the Young Australian Christian Writer Award for her manuscript Faith Like a Mushroom, and Daniel Li the Australian Christian Teen Writer Award for his work A Short Walk.
For more information on the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge Australia and the Australian Christian Literature Society visit www.spcka.org.au
