Mind Body Spirit Literary Award Winner and Former Sceptic Claims Existence of Afterlife

 
Literary works by a retired engineer and a yoga practitioner are the winners of the 2016 Ashton Wylie Mind Body Spirit Literary Awards, described by judges’ convenor Adonia Wylie, as an outstanding body of work from within the genre.

Nelson retired software engineer, Alastair Bruce Scott-Hill, won the Book Category, for The Paranormal is Normal published by Xcell Books.

Alastair Bruce Scott-Hill’s book uses “solid science” to claim the existence of reincarnation, the paranormal and immortality. He said that his 15-year journey to write the book had changed his beliefs. He replicated science experiments as the base for his investigations into reincarnation, the paranormal and the possibility of an afterlife and immortality.

Wellington astrologer and yoga practitioner Linda George won the Unpublished Manuscript Category with Living in the Big Picture. George’s manuscript looks to the hidden teachings of the ancient world to help us thrive in a chaotic modern world.

 ‘‘There was some healthy and robust debate around our different preferences,’’ Wylie says.  ‘‘It’s very heartening that there were so many quality entries that attracted the judges in different ways.’’

The judging panel of AWCT trustee Adonia Wylie, author Keith Hill and journalist Mike Alexander were unanimous in their overall choice of the winning book. Up to eight other entries vied for selection as one of the four other finalists.

Adonia Wylie said that “Living in the Big Picture as a very well-researched manuscript that relates the wisdom tradition to the modern world. This is a wide-ranging compendium that relates key aspects of ancient spirituality to the modern world and is detailed without getting bogged down in detail.”

There were ten finalists, five in each of the two categories – for published works and unpublished manuscripts. The category winners each receive a $10,000 prize.

Awards Director, Tim Eddington said “the Awards always attract an eclectic and impressive body of work by New Zealanders writing in the Mind Bond Spirit genre. Typically, entries are works of non-fiction so it is unusual for a novel to make an appearance.” Louise Beker’s novel Her Eight Limbs of Love was described by the judges as “an artful weaving of ancient philosophy and chic lit.”

This year’s winners comprise works by a head and neck surgeon, a retired chest physician, a retired engineer, a psychic medium, an astrologer, a counsellor, an anthropologist, a midwife, yoga teachers and Reiki Masters.

The awards are unique in New Zealand for their encouragement of writing in the mind, body, spirit genre.

The 2016 Ashton Wylie Mind Body Spirit Literary Awards winners (in order) are:

BOOK CATEGORY

1.       Alastair Bruce Scott-Hill                 The Paranormal is Normal (Xcell Books)

2.       Tony Michael Martin                      A Sense of More Than (Makaro Press)

3.       Louise Beker                                      Her Eight Limbs of Love (Angelos Publishing)

4.       Kelvin Cruickshank                           Soul Secrets (Penguin Books)

5.       Dr Adrian Harrison                           Creating Now (Balboa Press).

 

UNPUBLISHED MANUSCRIPT CATEGORY

1.       Linda George                                     Living in the Big Picture

2.       Kathy Fray                                           Oh God – What the Hell Do I Tell Them

3.       Judith Hoch                                        The Soothsayer

4.       Clement McGrath                            Yoga of Relationships

5.       Kerryn Fisk                                          The Waka Taua.