Congratulations to the 2024 CALEB Award Winners!
Omega Writers has just concluded the 2024 Omega Writers Conference, held at the Metro Mirage Hotel, Newport, New South Wales, featuring special guest speaker Susan May Warren.
A highlight of the conference was (as always) the CALEB Award gala dinner held on Saturday night.
This was our opportunity to celebrate the best writing from Christian authors in Australia and New Zealand. This year, the awards were for published works in four categories:
- Early Reader and Middle Grade Fiction
- Young Adult Fiction
- Adult Fiction
- Young Adult and Adult Nonfiction
As always, I don’t envy the judges who had to choose between so many excellent books.
And now, the finalists and winners in each category:
Early Reader/Middle Grade
Our finalists were:
Xavier in the Meantime by Kate Gordon
Train Trouble by Ella Shine (Cecily Paterson and Penny Reeve)
Riz Chester – The Counterfeit Bust by R A Stephens
Amanda Commander – The Pinky Promise by Coral Vass
This category caused the judges a lot of angst. All three final-round judges commented on the difficulty of comparing early reader books aimed at five to eight-year-olds with the more mature writing style and subject matter of a middle grade title.
So the award co-ordinators conferred with Meredith Resce, President of Omega Writers, and decided to split the category.
The Early Reader winner is … Riz Chester – The Counterfeit Bust by R A Stephens
R A Stephens has a long history of supporting the Australian Christian writing industry as a publisher, editor, conference organiser, bookstall provider, and now as a writer.
And the Middle Grade winner is … Xavier in the Meantime by Kate Gordon
In case you’re still wondering why we could declare a Middle Grade winner when there was only one Middle Grade finalist … the answer is simple. Because the next highest-scoring book in the category was also by Kate Gordon.
Young Adult Fiction
Our finalists were:
Living Melody by Jenny Glazebrook
Flying Blind by Rosanne Hawke
Immortal Mistake by Adele Jones
And the winner is … Flying Blind by Rosanne Hawke
Rosanne was unable to make the conference, as she is currently en route to Spain to walk the Camino di Santiago. We wish her a hearty congratulations, and all the best for her pilgrimage.
Adult Fiction
Our finalists were:
Where Our Hearts Lie by Jenny Glazebrook
Broken Spirit by Sheridan Lee
Heart in the Clouds by Jennifer Mistmorgan
And the winner is … Heart in the Clouds by Jennifer Mistmorgan
Heart in the Clouds was also a well-deserved finalist in the First Novel and Historical Romance categories of the 2024 Selah Awards.
Nonfiction
Our finalists were:
Waiting to be Well by Angela C Millen
SHEILA “There’s no use crying over spilt milk” by Pamela Morrison
The Gender Revolution by Patricia Weerakoon; Robert Smith; Kamal Weerakoon
And the winner … The Gender Revolution by Patricia Weerakoon; Robert Smith; Kamal Weerakoon
Kamal Weerakoon collected the award on behalf of his mother and cowriters.
Congratulations to all our 2024 winners, finalists and entrants. Publishing a book and entering a writing contest takes courage and determination, no matter what the outcome. Finally, a huge thank you to all our judges. Without you, we wouldn’t be able to conduct the CALEB Awards.
This is Iola Goultons final year as CALEB coordinator. Iola wishes to thank all the writers and judges, for all your support over the last six years.
Congratulations to all the winners!! 😊