The Whitney Awards
PROVO, UT—JUNE 18, 2007
WRITING GROUP ANNOUNCES PRESTIGIOUS NEW LDS FICTION AWARD
“We shall yet have Miltons and Shakespeares of our own. . . . In God’s name and by His help we will build up a literature whose tops will touch the heaven, though its foundation may now be low on the earth.”
When Latter-day Saint Apostle Orson F. Whitney first spoke these words, the literary canon of his people didn’t contain many works. Fast forward over a hundred years, and literally thousands of novels are published, enjoyed by readers each year.
The quality of fiction has significantly increased in recent times. New writers are finding it harder to break into the industry each year. This is hard for upstart writers, but great for readers.
While LDStorymakers began several years ago to serve only as a support group and opportunity for networking for LDS writers, it has morphed into a powerful force into LDS market.
Today they unveil their newest project, the brainchild of LDStorymaker and novelist Robison Wells: an annual fiction award named after Orson F. Whitney, honoring his vision of having LDS “Miltons and Shakespeares.”
“The Whitney Award will be given annually in conjunction with the LDStorymaker writing conference each March,” Wells, the author of three novels published through Covenant, explains. “This is an exciting time to be part of the LDS fiction industry, and we hope the Whitney will become a prestigious and sought-after award.”
Anyone can nominate a novel published during the previous calendar year in any of six categories, and a final academy of industry professionals will vote on the final ballot. Nominations are being taken for books published in 2007 by LDS authors at the Whitney Awards website: www.whitneyawards.com
(I'll blog more about this tomorrow, but for now, go check the site out!)
RobisonWells — 6/18/2007 11:37:00 AM
5 comments
5 Comments:
I've heard this idea bandied about for years. About time someone finally acted on it. Good luck.
What about YA LDS fiction--which category would that fit into?
Great idea--looking forward to it!
One of the biggest things the group struggled with was how many catagories to begin with. Too many and the awards may not get any traction, too few and you don't have all the awards you'd like.
For the first year, YA will fit into the other catagories (i.e. YA Fantasy, YA Thriller, YA Romance, etc. Hopefully we will be able to make a YA catagory of its own soon.
So does this mean that judging committee members' books will not be considered for an award?
Yes. Books written by Whitney Awards Committee members are not eligible for the awards.
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