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The Whitney Awards are awards given annually for novels by LDS authors. The Whitney Awards are a semi-independent non-profit organization affiliated with the LDStorymakers, a guild for LDS authors.[1]

Award categories

There are currently six genre categories:

There are also two overall awards:

  • Best Novel by a New Author
  • Novel of the Year

Due to the limited number of titles released by LDS authors, several of the genre awards are combined (such as romance and women's fiction).[2]

While the Whitney Committee has said that they hope to expand the number of genres in the future, they likely won't venture into other areas of LDS art, such as music, poetry, or non-fiction books.

To be eligible, a novel must be written by an LDS author during the award year, and be at least 50,000 words long.

Whitney Award process

Any reader can nominate a book. Once a book has received five or more nominations, it becomes an official nominee.

The official nominees are presented to the Whitney Awards Committee. The Committee checks for eligibility, and acts as a preliminary judging panel; reducing the number of nominees to no more than five per category.

Finally, ballots are sent to the Whitney Awards Academy, an invitation-only group consisting of authors, bookstore owners/managers, distributors, critics, and other industry professionals. Through popular vote, they decide on final winners.[3] The awards are presented at a dinner held at the conclusion of the annual LDStorymakers conference and writing "boot camp."[4]

Origin of the name

The awards are named after Orson F. Whitney, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as well as a poet and writer. In 1888, Elder Whitney delivered a speech entitled "Home Literature" in which he stated:

We will yet have Miltons and Shakespeares of our own. God's ammunition is not exhausted. His brightest spirits are held in reserve for the latter times. In God's name and by his help we will build up a literature whose top shall touch heaven, though its foundations may now be low in earth.[5]

The phrase "We will yet have Miltons and Shakespeares of our own" has been adopted as the slogan of the Whitney Awards, and is printed on the trophy.

Winners and finalists

2007 (presented March 22, 2008)

Best Novel of the Year

  • On the Road to Heaven, by Coke Newell — Zarahemla Books
    • Dragon Slippers, by Jessica Day George — Bloomsbury
    • Out of Jerusalem: Land of Inheritance, by H.B. Moore — Covenant Communications
    • The Operative, by Willard Boyd Gardner — Covenant Communications
    • Upon the Mountains, by Gale Sears — Covenant Communications

Best Novel by a New Author

  • Dragon Slippers, by Jessica Day George — Bloomsbury
    • Wet Desert, by Gary Hansen — Holeshot Press
    • Counting Stars, by Michele Paige Holmes — Covenant Communications
    • Beyond the Horizon, by Judy C. Olsen — Covenant Communications
    • On the Road to Heaven, by Coke Newell — Zarahemla Books

Best Romance/Women's Fiction

Best Mystery/Suspense

  • Sheep's Clothing, by Josi Kilpack — Deseret Book
    • The Deep End, by Traci Hunter Abramson — Covenant Communications
    • Grave Secrets, by Marlene Austin — Covenant Communications
    • The Operative, by Willard Boyd Gardner — Covenant Communications
    • Hazardous Duty, by Betsy Brannon Green — Covenant Communications

Best YA/Children's

Best Speculative

Best Historical

  • Out of Jerusalem: Land of Inheritance, by H.B. Moore — Covenant Communications
    • Beyond the Horizon, by Judy C. Olsen — Covenant Communications
    • On the Road to Heaven, by Coke Newell — Zarahemla Books
    • Spires of Stone, by Annette Lyon — Covenant Communications
    • Upon the Mountains, by Gale Sears — Covenant Communications

Lifetime Achievement

2008 (presented April, 2009)

Best Novel of the Year

  • Traitor by Sandra Grey
    • Bound on Earth by Angela Hallstrom
    • Fool Me Twice by Stephanie Black
    • The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson
    • Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow by Jessica Day George

Best Novel by a New Author

  • Bound on Earth by Angela Hallstrom
    • The Reckoning by Tanya Parker Mills
    • Spare Change by Aubrey Mace
    • Traitor by Sandra Grey
    • Waiting For the Light to Change by Annette Hawes

Best Romance

  • Spare Change by Aubrey Mace
    • Seeking Persephone by Sarah Eden
    • Servant to a King by Sariah Wilson
    • The Sound of Rain by Anita Stansfield
    • Taking Chances by Shannon Guymon

Best Mystery / Suspense

  • Fool Me Twice by Stephanie Black
    • Above and Beyond by Betsy Brannon Green
    • Do No Harm by Gregg Luke
    • Freefall by Traci Hunter Abramson
    • Royal Target by Traci Hunter Abramson

Best Youth Fiction

Best Speculative Fiction

Best Historical

  • Abinadi by H. B. Moore
    • Isabelle Webb, Legend of the Jewel by N. C. Allen
    • Master by Toni Sorenson
    • The Ruby by Jennie Hansen
    • Traitor by Sandra Grey

Best General Fiction

  • Waiting For the Light to Change by Annette Hawes
    • Bound on Earth by Angela Hallstrom
    • The Reckoning by Tanya Parker Mills
    • Fields of Home by Rachel Ann Nunes
    • Keeping Keller by Tracy Winegar

Lifetime Achievement Awards

Whitney Awards Committee

The Whitney Awards Committee acts as both the organizers and the preliminary judges of the Whitney Awards. Rules stipulate that the committee be made up of at least four members of LDStorymakers. Their positions are temporary, by invitation of the Whitney Awards Committee president (who is appointed by the LDStorymakers executive committee).

The current committee includes:[1]

  • Robison Wells, President
  • Julie Coulter Bellon
  • Danyelle Ferguson
  • John Ferguson
  • Crystal Leichty
  • Sheila Staley
  • Jaime Theler

Although Kerry Blair had been a member of the Whitney Awards Committee for two years, the other members of the committee "went behind her back" to name her the winner of a Lifetime Achievement Award for 2008.[11]

Criticism

One Mormon literature critic initially raised concerns with the heavy involvement of authors published by Covenant Communications in the awards process.[12] However when the finalists for 2007 were announced, this same commenter noted both that there was a wide spectrum of publishers represented, and that "Covenant publishes the lion’s share of Mormon market fiction."[7] This same critic later described the awards as "at best a reductive form of validation and criticism. Although let’s be honest: The Whitneys have way more credibility than the Grammys."[13]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "About the Whitneys". whitneyawards.com. Whitney Awards. Retrieved 30 July 2009.
  2. ^ Robison Wells (19 June 2007). "Whitney Awards Q&A". Six LDS Writers and A Frog. Blogspot. Retrieved 30 July 2009.
  3. ^ "Official Rules". whitneyawards.com. Whitney Awards. Retrieved 30 July 2009.
  4. ^ De Groote, Michael (25 April 2009). "LDS writers attend a novel boot camp". MormonTimes.com. Retrieved 30 July 2009.
  5. ^ Whitney, Orson F. (1888), Home Literature, The Contributor {{citation}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help). Reprint at the Mormon Literature website, a project of the Association for Mormon Letters and the Harold B. Lee Library of Brigham Young University.
  6. ^ "Whitney Awards honor LDS fiction writers". MormonTimes.com. 27 March 2008. Retrieved 30 July 2009.
  7. ^ a b William Morris (19 January 2008). "The Whitney Awards — publishers tally". A Motley Vision. Retrieved 30 July 2009.
  8. ^ Card, Orson Scott (27 April 2009). "Orson Scott Card's Whitney Award speech". MormonTimes.com. Retrieved 30 July 2009. I feel deeply the honor of being given an award named for Orson F. Whitney ... I have long and proudly borne Elder Whitney's first name; now you have given me an award that bears his last name, too.
  9. ^ De Groote, Michael (23 April 2009). "Best LDS novel of '08? Whitney Awards to weigh in". MormonTimes.com. Retrieved 30 July 2009.
  10. ^ De Groote, Michael (26 April 2009). "Best LDS fiction named at Whitney Awards". MormonTimes.com. Retrieved 30 July 2009.
  11. ^ a b De Groote, Michael (30 April 2009). "'08 Whitney Awards honor best LDS fiction". Deseret News. Retrieved 30 July 2009. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  12. ^ William Morris (8 August 2007). "Diversity or dilution? The Whitneys and BYU Studies Review". A Motley Vision. Retrieved 30 July 2009.
  13. ^ William Morris (9 February 2009). "Whitney Awards 2008 Finalists announced (yep, that's what I thought)". A Motley Vision. Retrieved 30 July 2009.
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