В Мемфисе завершилась 25-я конференция писателей христианской прозы: награды, встречи с издателями и мастер-классы

The 25th annual American Christian Fiction Writers conference (ACFW), held August 27–29 in Memphis, drew 328 people, including fiction writers looking to build their skills in workshops, network with editors and agents, and celebrate the presentation of several awards. “ACFW plays a big part in training up professional, talented writers,” said Kathleen Y'Barbo Turner, president and CEO of ACFW, told PW. “We are helping take what God gave these writers and giving them direction and encouragement. Connections have always been our strength.” One of the biggest draws of ACFW for writers is the opportunity to meet publishing professionals. At this year’s conference, there were six literary agents taking appointments and 14 editors from large houses such as Tyndale, Bethany House, and HarperCollins Christian, as well as smaller houses such as Scrivenings Press and Whitefire Publishing. Appointment coordinator Casey Miller estimates close to 500 appointments were attended. Rochelle Gloege, senior acquisition editor for Bethany House, said the majority of pitches she heard were for suspense, romantic suspense, and thrillers and mysteries, while fellow Bethany editor Jessica Sharpe’s were for contemporary rom-coms. “We’re known for historical romance and intend to keep publishing in that category, but we do want to publish more contemporary romance of all kinds,” said Gloege. “We are also seeking romantasy and are entertaining the possibility of publishing fantasy once again.” Skill-building workshops are also a staple at the conference. This year's sessions with such titles as Enduring on the Writer’s Journey, The Austen Method: Writing Romance According to Jane Austen, Your First Five Pages, Research Like a Pro, and Get a Great Start as an Indie. Highest honors The prizes at this year’s ACFW included the Carol Awards for published novels in 11 categories, and multiple awards for promising manuscripts in progress. Author Karen Kingsbury was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award, but was prevented from delivering her keynote address due to illness; author Angela Hunt subbed in, receiving a standing ovation for her talk on the structure of story. Alisa Hall, a first-time attendee from Chattanooga, Tenn., won the ACFW First Impressions award in the contemporary category, based on the first five pages of an unpublished manuscript; the manuscript was also a semi-finalist for the Genesis Award, which looks at the first 15 pages. She told PW, “Writing is such a solitary thing. I really enjoy meeting other people who think like me and see the world like I do." Jen Brown, who writes as Elise Browning, won the Genesis Award in the contemporary category for Chasing Light and was attending her first ACFW. The Hastings, Mich., resident told PW that the award "feels like a validation that I should keep going with my writing. God gave me a story that I feel like needs to be told.” While first-timers were the majority of attendees, established authors such Dana Mentink, who has close to 60 published books, including Murders in the Marquee (Love Inspired Trade, out now), and has been an ACFW member for 20 years, told PW, "There is nothing like spending time with a group of writers where we’re all kind of the same in our quirky ways.” Lists for all the awards can be found here. The ACFW conference returns to the Peabody Hotel in Memphis on Aug. 26-29, 2027.