RELEASE: Angela Antle named 2025 BMO Winterset Award recipient

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Angela Antle named 2025 BMO Winterset Award recipient

April 9, 2026 (St. John’s, NL) – Angela Antle is the recipient of the 2025 BMO Winterset Award for her book, The Saltbox Olive. The award, which celebrates excellence in Newfoundland and Labrador writing, was presented today at a ceremony at Government House in St. John’s.

The two other finalists were Debbie McGee for Cautiously Pessimistic (Breakwater Books, NL) and Mackenzie Nolan for Veal (ECW Press, ON).

The BMO Winterset Award, managed by ArtsNL, is a partnership made possible through the generous support of BMO, the Sandra Fraser Gwyn Foundation, and Carol Bishop-Gwyn, widow of the project’s founder, writer Richard Gwyn, O.C. The prize awarded to the annual recipient is $12,500, while the finalists each receive $3,000. It is one of Atlantic Canada’s most lucrative literary prizes.

The Saltbox Olive (Breakwater Books, NL) is one of 37 works by Newfoundland and Labrador authors (either native-born or resident) that were submitted by publishers from across the country. Books in any genre, published in 2025, were eligible. The jury consisted of authors Robert Chafe, Sara Power, and Susie Taylor.

A total of 37 entries were submitted by publishers from across the country. All genres were represented by Newfoundland and Labrador authors (native-born or resident), including fiction, non-fiction, poetry, drama, and children’s books.

Angela Antle is a writer, artist, and documentary maker based in St. John’s, NL. Her writing has appeared in Riddle Fence, Newfoundland Quarterly, and CBC.ca. She wrote and directed Gander’s Ripple Effect: How a Small Town’s Kindness Opened on Broadway and wrote the feature-length documentary Atlantic: What Lies Beneath, narrated by Brendan Gleeson and winner of Best Documentary awards at the Dublin, Wexford, Nickel, and Chagrin Film Festivals. Antle is an interdisciplinary PhD candidate at Memorial University, a member of Norway’s Empowered Futures Energy School, and the 2025 Rachel Carson Writer in Residence at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München.

The BMO Winterset Award honours the memory of Sandra Fraser Gwyn, St. John’s-born social historian and prize-winning author, who did so much to promote a national awareness of the province’s artists. Her husband, journalist and author Richard Gwyn, O.C., established the award in 2000. It is named after the historic house on Winter Avenue in St. John’s where Sandra grew up.

“At BMO, we believe the arts play a vital role in bringing people together and strengthening our communities,” said Dean Holloway, Regional Vice President, Newfoundland and Labrador, BMO. “We’re pleased to congratulate this year’s Winterset Award recipient and the finalists, and to support writers whose work reflects and enriches Newfoundland and Labrador’s vibrant cultural landscape.”

BMO Gives. Good grows here.

Helping communities thrive by supporting the organizations that sustain them and encouraging employee giving and volunteerism is at the heart of BMO’s Purpose, to Boldly Grow the Good in business and life.

In 2025, BMO directed more than $124 million to drive progress for communities, which included $115.7 million in philanthropic contributions to hundreds of charities and nonprofit organizations across North America.

BMO employees spent over 65,000+ hours volunteering in the community and contributed more than $40.3 million of donations through employee-driven giving in our annual campaigns.

For more information, please visit BMO Gives.

Media enquiries:
Charlene Jackson
Communications Officer, ArtsNL
(709) 726-2212 ext. 3
charlene@artsnl.ca

Kate Simandl
BMO Public Relations, Toronto
(416) 867-3996
kate.simandl@bmo.com

The Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council (ArtsNL) is a non-profit Crown agency created in 1980 by The Arts Council Act. Its mission is to foster and promote the creation and enjoyment of the arts for the benefit of all Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. The Council is governed by a volunteer board of no fewer than 9 and no more than 11 members appointed by Government. At least 7 members must be artists or arts administrators, and one member is appointed to represent the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts and Recreation (non-voting). ArtsNL receives an annual allocation of $5.3 million from the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador to support a variety of granting programs, program delivery, office administration, and communications. It also seeks support from the public and private sectors. It supports the following artistic disciplines: dance, film and video, Indigenous arts and practices, literary arts, multidisciplinary arts, music and sound, theatre and performing arts, visual arts, and other similar creative and interpretative works or activities.

–30–