Asian Authors Score Eight Nods at 2025 Catholic Media Association Book Awards

Poetry Festival Singapore—August 1, 2025

Not just one, not even two, but a mighty yield of eight awards! That is how many acclamations Singapore author Desmond Francis Xavier Kon Zhicheng-Mingdé walked away with at this year’s much anticipated Catholic Media Association (CMA) Book Awards.

The Catholic Media Association recognizes and honors outstanding works that, as stated on its website, “resonate with Catholic values, promote faith, and inspire reflection and understanding”. The annual CMA Book Awards are presented at the Catholic Media Conference. This year, the Conference was held in Phoenix, Arizona, between 24 to 27 June.

Desmond’s poetry collection, Heart Fiat, clinched six of the eight awards. Two were for 1st Place under the categories “Church Life: Pastoral Ministry Catechetical” and “Special Collections: Backlist Beauty”. Another two were for 2nd Place under the categories “Church Life: Pilgrimages/Catholic Travel” and “International Publication: Poetry”. One took 3rd Place for the category “Special Collections: Poetry”, while the sixth commendation was an Honorable Mention for the category “Education: Faith Formation”.

Published last year, the first edition of Heart Fiat remains dedicated to Pope Francis. The poetry collection marked the pontiff’s visit to Singapore in 2024. “I will forever treasure being present at the Papal Mass at the National Stadium last September. There hadn’t been a Papal Mass in Singapore since 1986 when St. Pope John Paul II came, the first time a pope had ever visited us. That Pope Francis departed this year just left the world with a deep, profound sadness. It makes this poetry collection even more significant and meaningful for me.”

Heart Fiat is published by Poetry Festival Singapore (Singapore) and Wipf and Stock Resource Publications (USA). Hardcover, paperback and Kindle versions of Heart Fiat may be purchased here: https://wipfandstock.com/9798385229826/heart-fiat/

One judge’s citation describes Heart Fiat as “an engaging text that permits readers to really enter into the mystery of particular images and occasions… to be commended for taking readers on a spiritual odyssey”. Another calls it a “wonderful set of poems that penetrates the soul… captivating, encouraging and inspiring”.

A separate review remarks that “the subject matter is often self-referential… in the way of the poet who reflects upon the significance of their own craft”. To add, another statement offers experienced insight: “A touching and profound poetry that springs up from the heart of a man grateful to God. In every experience, in every moment of life, even in situations of suffering and confusion, the author sees the light of the Holy Trinity saving him.”

Adjudication comments for each category are featured in The Catholic Journalist (Vol. 86, No. 8), which lists all the winners across The Association’s Awards, namely the Communications Awards, Magazine Awards, Newspaper Awards, Spanish-language Awards, Book Awards, Gabriel Awards, and Collegiate Awards.  

The Catholic Media Association manages and administers these various Awards. The prestigious Gabriel Awards, for one, “celebrates excellence in film, broadcast, and digital media productions across the United States and Canada”. The highly competitive Individual Honors include the St. Francis de Sales Award, Cardinal John Foley Award, Bishop John England Award, and Father John Catoir Social Media Evangelization Award.

The other two of the eight accolades Desmond received are shared with Eric Tinsay Valles, his godfather and long-time collaborator. Both were co-editors on the anthology, The Jesuit: Finding God in All Things. This title received 1st Place in the two categories “International Publication: Poetry” and “International Publication: General Theological Subject Matter”.

One judge’s citation states: “The Jesuit: Finding God in All Things is a beautifully curated collection of poems that reflect the richness of the Ignatian spiritual tradition. Written by a diverse group of contributors—both lay and religious, from various parts of the world—these poems together offer a wide-ranging meditation on the presence of God in everyday life. This anthology does not attempt to present theology in systematic terms, but instead invites the reader into a contemplative experience, one that reveals the sacred woven through the fabric of human life. It’s a moving and accessible work that embodies a theology of presence and grace.”

“A brilliantly conceived collection of poetry that celebrates the marvels of God,” states the second citation. “We see throughout the book the power of God’s calling to evangelize the entire world and the joy that his apostles feel by doing it.”

Of this double win, Eric has this to say: “The project was borne out of a shared belief in the power of poetry to illuminate, challenge, and stir the soul. May this recognition encourage more collective acts of verse, where voices converge and rise above in a chorus.”

According to the Association’s website, the CMA Book Awards “spotlight various genres, from theology and spirituality to historical accounts, children’s literature, and more, appreciating the diversity and richness within Catholic writing”. The CMA Book Awards is recognized as a “cherished tradition”, and remains committed to “acknowledging the profound impact of literature in enriching our faith”.

Previous winners have included such illustrious and reputable authors as: Pope St. John Paul II, Pope Francis, Pope Benedict XVI, Dorothy Day, Bishop Robert Barron, Fr. Mike Schmitz, Fr. Paul Turner, Scott Hahn, Peter Kreeft, Matthew Levering, Brant Pitre, Edward Sri, Jeff Cavins, Matthew Petrusek, Mark Hart, Timothy P. O’Malley, Brandon Vogt, Holly Ordway, among numerous other esteemed names.

Did Desmond hope to ever win? “Oh man did I hope,” Desmond says. “I would have been happy to even place at all, really. That Heart Fiat went many times better is beyond astonishing and spectacular. It really is nothing short of the miraculous.” Desmond shares that he did pray to bring home some props, and indeed, included these intentions all nine days of his Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Also timely and providential was an email requesting prayer requests to Our Lady of Lourdes, through the online and free Lourdes Prayer delivery service. Desmond beamed when he received acknowledgement that all his four petitions were placed at the Grotto in Lourdes.

This year alone, the publishers represented at the CMA Book Awards include such established names as: Angelico Press, Archabbey Publications, Ascension, Ave Maria Press, Bloomsbury Publishing, Catholic University of America Press, Emmaus Road Publishing, En Route Books and Media, EWTN Publishing, Georgetown University Press, Harvard University Press, ICS Publications, Liturgical Press, Loyola Press, LSU Press, Novalis Publishing, Orbis Books, OSV, Paraclete Press, Pauline Books & Media, Paulist Press, Sophia Institute Press, St. Augustine’s Press, TAN Books, Twenty-Third Publications, University of Massachusetts Press, University of Notre Dame Press, Wipf and Stock Publishers, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., and Word on Fire.

The CMA Book Awards comprises more than 60 categories. The full list of 2025 winners are provided here, as an archive:

https://www.catholicmediaassociation.org/2025-cma-book-awards

Desmond admits to feeling awkward and embarrassed at praying for such specific intentions like critical approbation. “I just kept seeing Matthew 7:7.” Desmond goes on to share. “Ask. Seek. Knock. So all I did was obey. I simply prayed, and asked.”  

He is happier centered on his larger intentions—for greater sanctification toward holiness—which he prays at every Mass, and during Eucharistic Adoration. This he has also written on a piece of paper, and placed for years under the sleeping St. Joseph statue he keeps at his bedside. This Desmond learnt from Pope Francis, who shared his strong devotion to St. Joseph. The Pope would pen his concerns or prayer requests on paper and slip them under the statue, asking for St. Joseph’s intercession.

Desmond expresses nothing but humility and gratitude that the CMA Book Awards judges felt Heart Fiat was worthy of recognition. Indeed, he is moved and floored by how well-received Heart Fiat has been to date. The poetry collection has already received several other US-based international awards, like the Illumination Christian Book Gold Award (Poetry), National Indie Excellence Award (Poetry), Nautilus Silver Book Award (Lyric Prose & Hybrid Works), and Independent Publisher Silver Book Award (Poetry–Specialty).

“Domine, non nisi Te. As St. Thomas Aquinas said, when Jesus asked Thomas for what reward he desired for writing well of Him. This is how I feel ultimately these days, about the things of the world. Lord, nothing except you.”

“It’s the same sentiment I adopt within my acknowledgements in Heart Fiat: Non nobis Domine non nobis, Sed nomini tuo da gloriam, Sed nomini tuo da gloriam. This translates as: Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but to thy name give the glory.”

So, what is in the pipeline for Desmond? He lets on that he is putting together a new poetry collection, although there is no rush to publish.

“I’ve managed to write up more than twenty new poems over this summer break. They’re all coming from that deep Catholic place that is powering up all my poetry these days. I feel wonderfully moved by the Holy Spirit. There’s a series of Divine Mercy poems. St. Faustina Kowalska makes an appearance. So do St. Conrad of Parzham and St. Teresa of Calcutta. Some of my favorite saints return. St. Augustine. St. Patrick. St. Josemaría Escrivá. St. Francis of Assisi. And very lovingly, Our Lady, O Mary, Mother of Jesus, of course.”

“I have a poem that features Pope Leo XIV too,” Desmond continues. “I’m already so full of admiration for our new Bishop of Rome, our supreme pontiff. I’m just really blessed to be able to do all this. To write poetry, which brings me much joy. To write the kind of poetry that I really want to be writing and reading. These poems are but small and humble works of art. They are my love gifts, my love language to the reader—and most importantly, to God.”

Desmond is the author of 19 books, spanning poetry, fiction, memoir, and experimental writing. A former journalist, he has also edited over 25 titles. The Harvard and Notre Dame alumnus has taught writing for over two decades, and now teaches creative writing at Nanyang Technological University. He can be found at: desmondkon.com

Eric has published the poetry collections A World in Transit and After the Fall: dirges among ruins, as well as co-edited numerous anthologies. He has won the Goh Sin Tub Creative Writing prize, Illumination Christian Book Awards, and eLit Book Awards. Invited to read locally and internationally, he is a director of Poetry Festival (Singapore).

The Catholic Media Association is an organization of Catholic publishers and media professionals “united in the action of servicing the Catholic Church”, according to its website. Incorporated in 1911, the Catholic Media Association contributes to “the Church’s mission of communicating the Good News and evangelizing the modern world by engaging and supporting Catholic media”.