The annual Audie Awards ceremony had its usual glamour and surprises. On arrival, The Audies Finalists received medals that festooned the black-tie and evening dress of narrators and publishers. The award ceremony, held at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, was hosted by Golden Voice narrator Grover Gardner.

The Audio Publishers Association honored the Harry Potter audiobook series with the first-ever Hall of Fame Award. The Judges Award was given in Spanish Language audiobooks to EL CODIGO DA VINCI from FonoLibro publishers. The Audiobook of the Year Award went to THE HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY: THE TERTIARY PHASE. BBC Audiobooks America and The Audio Partners share the publishing honors with Simon Jones, Geoffrey McGivern, and others taking kudos for the radio theatre production that is part of the fifteen-year legacy of author Douglas Adams.

We particularly celebrate the Narrators’ categories: Davina Porter, an AudioFile Golden Voice [A BREATH OF SNOW AND ASHES by Diana Gabaldon] and William Hootkins [MOBY-DICK from Naxos Audiobooks] won the Solo Narration awards. Barbara Rosenblat walked away with the Mystery Audie for Elizabeth Peters’s THE SERPENT ON THE CROWN. Also winning Audies were Simon Jones, John McDonough, Simon Vance, Susan Ericksen, Jim Dale, Ed Herrmann, Oliver Wyman, and Patricia Conolly. AudioFile Contributing Editor Yuri Rasovsky won the Audio Drama award for THE SHERLOCK HOLMES THEATRE.

Check out all the Winners—hear sound clips and read our reviews in The Audies Sampler—available from the AudioFile site, or at http://www.theaudies.com

All Photos by Zweig Photography of Washington, D.C. except 2,3,4,18,19,20 by Mark Mattos for AudioFile magazine.