Last night, "Long Way Gone" by Charles Martin was awarded top honors at the 2017 Christy Awards Gala. Presented by The Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA), the 18^th annual event was held at Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tenn., and hosted by a trio of award-winning, bestselling authors in the genre: New York Times bestselling author Karen Kingsbury, musician and writer Andrew Peterson, and award-winning author and radio host Chris Fabry. Fabry also took home honors in two categories at the event.

The full list of winners in each category are:

Book of The Year: "Long Way Gone" by Charles Martin (Thomas Nelson)

Contemporary Romance: "Her One and Only" by Becky Wade (Bethany House/ Baker Publishing Group)

First Novel: "Stars in the Grass" by Ann Marie Stewart (Barbour Publishing)

General Fiction: "The Promise of Jesse Woods" by Chris Fabry (Tyndale House Publishers)

Historical Fiction: "The Mark of the King" by Jocelyn Green (Bethany House/ Baker Publishing Group)

Historical Romance (TIE): "A Note Yet Unsung" by Tamera Alexander (Bethany House/ Baker Publishing Group) and "The Lady and the Lionheart" by Joanne Bischof (Mason Jar Books)

Mystery/Suspense/Thriller: "When Death Draws Near" by Carrie Stuart Parks (Thomas Nelson)

Short Form: "Looking Into You" by Chris Fabry (Tyndale House Publishers)

Visionary: "The Long Journey to Jake Palmer" by James Rubart (Thomas Nelson)

Young Adult: "The Silent Songbird" by Melanie Dickerson (Thomas Nelson)

The Christy Awards Gala also celebrated the 50^th anniversary of the novel "Christy," the award's namesake and now rereleased through Evergreen Farm, an imprint of Gilead Publishing. The evening capped off two days of events that helped inspire, train and encourage those established in the publishing industry as well as those aspiring to break into the market as writers or business leaders.

PubU: The Art of Curation was held as a training and networking event for Christian publishing professionals. The Art of Writing Conference was created to build community and explore the leading questions and pressing issues facing creators and curators. 

"We are thrilled with the tremendous response we received to these three writing and publishing events," said Stan Jantz, executive director of ECPA. "So many talented writers, along with members of the professional publishing community, have reinforced our belief that the art of storytelling is more important than ever. We congratulate this year's eleven Christy Award winners and look forward to another year of incredible storytelling."

Sign up for award and event updates for the 2018 program at www.ChristyAwards.com, where complete information can be found.