RELEASE: Finalists announced for 2021 BMO Winterset Award
Mar 2, 2022
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 2, 2022 (St. John’s, NL) – ArtsNL is pleased to announce the finalists for the 2021 BMO Winterset Award, celebrating excellence in Newfoundland and Labrador writing.
Readings by the three finalists will take place at The Rooms Theatre on Wednesday, March 16 at 7:00 pm. The winner will be announced on March 17, 2022, at Government House.
The three finalists are:
Carmella Gray-Cosgrove
Nowadays and Lonelier
(Arsenal Pulp Press, Vancouver, BC)
Aimee Wall
We, Jane
(Book*hug Press, Toronto, ON)
Claire Wilkshire
The Love Olympics
(Breakwater Books, St. John’s, NL)
The winner will receive a prize of $12,500 and each of the two finalists will receive $3,000.
A total of 35 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.
The BMO Winterset Award honours the memory of Sandra Fraser Gwyn O.C.—St. John’s-born social historian, prize-winning author, and passionate promoter of Newfoundland and Labrador arts. Named for the historic house on Winter Avenue in St. John’s where Sandra grew up, the BMO Winterset Award was established in 2000 by her late husband, journalist and author, Richard Gwyn O.C..
This year’s jury members were Petrina Bromley, Eva Crocker, and Nelson White.
“The 2022 Winterset reading list is a clear demonstration of the cultural wealth of Newfoundland and Labrador. Poetry, short story, theatre, history, storybook, fantasy, social issues, recipes, music manuscript, fiction, non-fiction, biography, autobiography, all of these were represented in the 35 books we were to read. I feel fortunate to have been gifted this library of NL’s voices at this moment in time. Beyond winners, we have so much to celebrate in the latitude and extent of writing talent we possess.”
–Petrina Bromley
“It was a pleasure and an honour to read all the submissions for this year’s BMO Winterset Award. I’m so inspired by the bounty of exciting new writing being produced in this province. Choosing a shortlist was agonizing but I’m thrilled to be able to recognize the exceptionally evocative and powerful prose between the covers of these three books.”
–Eva Crocker
“Each book was a revelation and the more I read the more difficult decisions became. I shouldn’t be surprised at the level of talent in this province, yet I continually found myself astounded by the characters and stories these authors introduced to me. I am grateful for the discovery.”
–Nelson White
The BMO Winterset Award is managed by ArtsNL and is made possible through the generous support from BMO Financial Group, in partnership with the Sandra Fraser Gwyn Foundation.
Media enquiries:
Charlene Jackson
Communications Officer, ArtsNL
charlene@artsnl.ca
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 13 appointed by government, reflecting regional representation of the province. This includes 10 professional artists who provide sectoral representation of the arts community; two community representatives (with an interest in the arts); and one representative of the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts and Recreation (non-voting). ArtsNL receives an annual allocation of $5 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 sector. It supports the following artistic disciplines: dance, film, multidiscipline, music, theatre, visual art, and writing.
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