THE WORD GUILD GIVES PARTNERSHIP, CAREER, BEST NEW AUTHOR AWARDS
The Word Guild surprised Brian Stiller of Toronto with this year’s Partnership Award and also gave awards to Frances Hudson of Calgary (best new author) and to Ray and Anna Wiseman (Tarr career award and special recognition award, respectively).
Guelph, Ontario – A retiring university president, an Ontario writing couple, and a new Alberta author received top honours recently from The Word Guild, a national association of Canadian writers and editors who are Christians.
The Partnership Award is presented periodically by The Word Guild to acknowledge exceptional support and encouragement of Canadian writers and editors who are Christian. Brian C. Stiller was surprised with the award June 19, as he delivered a keynote address at the association’s annual national conference, Write! Canada, in Guelph, Ontario.
Stiller, who has just retired from a 14-year tenure as president and CEO of Tyndale University College and Seminary in Toronto, was awarded for his invaluable contribution to the Canadian Christian writing community.
Stiller has exemplified excellence in his communication skills, his use of mass media, and his advocacy that Christians understand and effectively interact with contemporary culture. Through publishing a national magazine, hosting several television series, authoring 10 books, public speaking, and acting as a frequent media commentator, Stiller developed a national profile as a voice for Canadians of biblical faith.
Stiller was founder and editor-in-chief of Faith Today, one of Canada’s top Christian periodicals, during his tenure as president of The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (1983-1996).
Stiller directed Faith Today to start an annual conference in 1984 to train and inspire Canadian Christian writers. It came to be known as the God Uses Ink conference, and was sponsored by Faith Today and the EFC for 17 years, until 2001, when it was handed over to The Word Guild.
This month, Stiller is retiring as president of Tyndale, where he will remain as chancellor and head of a foundation, to embark on new undertakings that will include writing more books.
Previous Partnership Award winners have included publisher Larry Willard; the arts organization Imago; the publishers of The Christian Herald and Maranatha News; and Les Stobbe, a writer/editor/literary agent whose career has spanned more than 50 years.
Another annual award overseen by The Word Guild is the Best New Canadian Christian Author, sponsored by Castle Quay Books Canada. Six writers from Ontario, Alberta and Saskatchewan qualified as shortlisted contenders for the seventh annual prize.
The new author award recognizes the most promising fiction or non-fiction manuscript by a Canadian who writes from a Christian faith perspective. The winning author earns a $1,000 prize or a $1,000 advance against royalties, should Castle Quay Books Canada decide to publish the work.
Frances M. Hudson of Calgary, Alberta, won the award June 17, for her non-fiction manuscript, Special Angels: A Journey of Deliverance from the Nightmare of Familicide.
“God gave each of his children a unique voice; sometimes, though, we’re afraid to use it,” said Hudson in the acceptance speech she sent to the awards ceremony in Mississauga, Ontario. “Today I praise God for breaking the silence that, for so many years, held me captive.”
In presenting the award, Larry Willard, owner of Castle Quay Books, spoke of the writing excellence of all finalists, and commented on the difficulty in selecting only one for the award.
Besides announcing the Best New Author at its June 17 gala, The Word Guild also honoured 30 of the best published books and articles of 2008. Several of the books and articles won multiple categories this year, including Shawn J. Pollett for his novel Christianus Sum (Latin for “I am a Christian”); Toronto poverty activists Tim Huff and Greg Paul for their books Bent Hope: A Street Journal and The Twenty Piece Shuffle: Why the Poor and Rich Need Each Other; and Donna Dawson for her suspense thriller Vengeance.
A complete list of award winners is available here.
The website also has more details about the Leslie K. Tarr career award given to Ray Wiseman of Fergus, Ontario.
Wiseman, a veteran author, editor and columnist, joins previous winners of the Tarr award such as author Rudy Wiebe and poet Margaret Avison, both two-time Governor General’s Literary Award winners, and Janette Oke, whose inspirational novels have sold over 28 million copies.
Named in honour of its first recipient, the late Leslie K. Tarr, a Toronto journalist, editor and teacher, the Tarr Award celebrates a major career contribution to Christian writing and publishing in Canada.
The scope and quality of Ray Wiseman’s writing and his role as a mentor have made him an encouragement for many. Wiseman, who writes a weekly column for The Wellington Advertiser, has written a novel, seven non-fiction books, ten technical manuals and hundreds of newspaper columns. For 11 years he was a freelance columnist for the Guelph Mercury.
Along with Anna, his wife of 53 years, he runs a manuscript-critiquing business. Because Wiseman’s writing accomplishments have been a partnership with his wife Anna, The Word Guild took the unusual step of awarding her a special citation for her involvement in her husband’s career.
