The Advanced Writers and Speakers Association (AWSA) announced the 12th annual Golden Scroll Awards at a banquet of the group’s members Sunday, July 15.

June Hunt was the keynote speaker at the event, held at the Rosen Centre Hotel in Orlando, Fla. A best-selling author and radio personality, Hunt also was this year’s recipient of the Golden Scroll Lifetime Achievement Award.

“What an anchor is to a ship, hope is to a soul,” Hunt said as she displayed various types of anchors. The theme of hope is close to her heart, as she is founder and CEO of Hope for the Heart, a biblical counseling ministry with radio programs “Hope for the Heart” and “Hope in the Night,” heard on 1,000 outlets worldwide.

The AWSA of the Year was presented to Pam Farrel, author of 30 books, including Men Are Like Waffles, Women Are Like Spaghetti with more than 300,000 sold.

Jeanette Windle received the Beyond Me Award as a tribute to her “selfless” life, said Kathi Macias, who presented the award.

Other Golden Scroll Awards were given to Harvest House Publishers, honored as Publisher of the Year for outstanding ministry partnerships with their authors.

Editor of the Year went to Kim Bangs, now of Regal Books, while Fiction Editor of the Year was presented to Julee Schwarzburg of Schwarzburg Editorial.

Nonfiction Book of the Year was awarded to Poppy Smith for Why Can’t He Be More Like Me (Harvest House Publishers); Novel of the Year went to Susan May Warren for Heiress (Summerside Press); and Inspiration and Gift Book of the Year was presented to Mary Tatem for The Quilt of Life: A Patchwork of Inspirational Thoughts (Barbour Publishing).

AWSA, an outreach of Right to the Heart Ministries, is composed of more than 350 women authors who both publish and speak nationally.