{"id":12333,"date":"2012-09-14T22:45:21","date_gmt":"2012-09-14T11:45:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/?p=12333"},"modified":"2012-09-14T22:51:39","modified_gmt":"2012-09-14T11:51:39","slug":"australian-christian-book-awards-night-2012","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/2012\/09\/14\/australian-christian-book-awards-night-2012\/","title":{"rendered":"Australian Christian Book Awards Night 2012"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/em><\/strong>‘Fantastic, refreshing and vibrant. I was so glad to be part of it.’<\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

‘Quality, diversity, stimulation and encouragement. A great team effort.’<\/strong><\/p>\n

‘I took a book to read in case I got bored. Silly me.’<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is what guests had to say about this year’s Australian Christian Literature Awards<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Dramatic readings of prize-winning works, music by The ANSA<\/strong>, a talented teenage quartet\u00a0and outstanding presentations by Stephen Scott and Stevie Wills left guests inspired, encouraged and\u00a0deeply moved.<\/p>\n

After taking home a certificate of participation from last year\u2019s awards event, Teen Writer Daniel Li<\/strong> stayed up until 2 am writing this year’s winning composition. His piece, A Short Walk<\/em> is ‘raw and shocking but ultimately hopeful’. Read an extract here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This year’s Young Australian Christian\u00a0Writer Award brought to prominence Launceston Examiner columnist Claire van Ryn<\/strong>. She told the audience that ‘God is my inspiration, Every week he gives me new things to write’. She is a contributor to the Bible Society Live Light in 25 Words Bible Reading Campaign. Read a chapter from her winning manuscript, Faith Like a Mushroom<\/em> here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

You can read the judges’ comments on all shortlisted entries here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Scott Stephens<\/strong>, ABC Online Religion and Ethics editor, called for the Christian imagination to challenge the privatisation of belief. “The law and the market cannot say \u2018that\u2019s good\u2019 or \u2018that\u2019s better\u2019 \u2026 they can only say \u2018back off, you are getting too close to each other\u2019. The whole point of the Christian imagination is to give our society a choice to see that our future is to be mutually enslaved one to another.\u00a0The task of the Christian imagination today is to demonstrate that \u2018you are not your own, you were bought with a price, therefore glorify God with your bodies\u2019.”<\/p>\n

Through the veil of her cerebral palsy, Stevie Wills<\/strong>\u00a0moved mountains:<\/p>\n

You know my road is different.<\/em><\/p>\n

Covered with rocks<\/em><\/p>\n

Large, high, rough rocks.<\/em><\/p>\n

…<\/em><\/p>\n

I look across to your road,<\/em><\/p>\n

It seems smoother than mine.<\/em><\/p>\n

Less rocks,<\/em><\/p>\n

Not so high.<\/em><\/p>\n

I can see some though,<\/em><\/p>\n

Some hard to climb,<\/em><\/p>\n

Some you\u2019ve tripped over and hurt,<\/em><\/p>\n

Some there at every step.<\/em><\/p>\n

But your road looks easier.<\/em><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t envy your road,<\/em><\/p>\n

I love mine.<\/em><\/p>\n

Because I feel my need,<\/em><\/p>\n

To lean on God,<\/em><\/p>\n

Thus experience,<\/em><\/p>\n

Know him.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/em>Photos clockwise from top left:
\nFirst Prize winners, Daniel Li, Claire van Ryn, Murray Seiffert | Scott Stephens on the purpose of the Christian imagination | The 160 guests at St Alfred\u2019s Church, Blackburn | Stevie Wills performs her poetry | The ANSA brings a classical string repetoire into the 21st century. | Actors\u00a0Cale MacLaren\u00a0and\u00a0Ben Taylor\u00a0perform an award-winning text.<\/p>\n

More photos and links to media coverage can be found on the Australian Christian Literature Awards\u00a0Facebook page<\/a>. Also, Australian Christian Books of the Year 2012<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"SPCKAlargertagline\"<\/p>\n

Telephone 1300 137 725
\nadmin@spcka.org.au<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

‘Fantastic, refreshing and vibrant. I was so glad to be part of it.’ ‘Quality, diversity, stimulation and encouragement. A great team effort.’ ‘I took a book to read in case I got bored. Silly me.’ This is what guests had … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12333"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12333"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12333\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12474,"href":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12333\/revisions\/12474"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12333"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12333"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12333"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}