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. His brightest spirits are held in reserve for the latter times. We will yet have Miltons and Shakespeares of our own. In 1888, Elder Whitney delivered a speech entitled ' Home Literature' in which he stated: 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. Until the 2010 awards (presented 2011), books were not allowed to win in more than one category. The awards are presented at a dinner held at the conclusion of the annual LDStorymakers conference and writing 'boot camp.' By a popular vote, they decide on the winners. The official nominees are presented to the Whitney Awards Committee which checks for eligibility and acts as a preliminary judging panel, reducing the number of nominees to no more than five per category.įinally, ballots are sent to the Whitney Awards Academy, an invitation-only group consisting of authors, bookstore owners/managers, distributors, critics, and other industry professionals. Once a book has received five or more nominations, it becomes an official nominee. To be eligible, a novel must be written by an LDS author during the award year, and be at least 50,000 words long.

The Whitney Committee states that it is unlikely that other areas of LDS art-such as music, poetry, or non-fiction books-will be added to the categories.

Cross My Heart by Julie Wright