29th August, 2012

Murray Seiffert's book Gumbuli of Ngukurr was named the 2012 Australian Christian Book of the Year at the Australian Christian Literature Awards in Melbourne earlier this month.

Second prize was awarded to A Short History of Christianity by Geoffrey Blainey while Love, Tears and Autism: An Australian mother's journey from heartbreak to hope by Cecily Paterson took third.

The judges, who included Brisbane barrister Alex Crawford, Chantelle Ogilvie-Ellis, justice and peace promoter for the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney, and Mark Conner, senior minister at CityLife Church in Melbourne, described the book as "a unique and timely contribution to the story of Aboriginal engagement with western culture and Christianity."

The Australian Christian Book of the Year Award ispresented annually to an original book written by an Australian and published by an Australian publisher. It carries a prize of $2,500.

~ www.spcka.org.au