RELEASE: Susie Taylor, Lisa Moore and Jack Whalen win the 2024 BMO Winterset Award

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Susie Taylor, Lisa Moore and Jack Whalen win the 2024 BMO Winterset Award

April 10, 2025 (St. John’s, NL) – Susie Taylor is the winner of the 2024 BMO Winterset Award for her short story collection, Vigil. In celebration of the award’s 25^th anniversary, a one-time non-fiction prize was introduced and awarded to co-authors Lisa Moore and Jack Whalen for their book, Invisible Prisons.

The award, which celebrates excellence in Newfoundland and Labrador writing, was presented today at a ceremony at Government House in St. John’s. Susie Taylor received the $12,500 prize for fiction, while Lisa Moore and Jack Whelan received the $12,500 prize for non-fiction prize. Two finalists were recognized with $3,000 prizes: Sara Power for fiction (Art of Camouflage) and Ashleigh Matthews for non-fiction (Otherwise Grossly Unremarkable).

30 titles by Newfoundland and Labrador authors—either native-born or current residents—were submitted by publishers from across the country. Books in any genre, published in 2024, were eligible for consideration. The jury consisted of writers Holly Hogan, Donna Morrissey, and William Ping.

The BMO Winterset Award, managed by ArtsNL, is a partnership made possible through the generous support of BMO Financial Group, the Sandra Fraser Gwyn Foundation, and Carol Bishop Gwyn, widow of the award’s founder, writer Richard Gwyn, O.C. One of Atlantic Canada’s most prestigious and lucrative literary prizes, the award honours the memory of Sandra Fraser Gwyn, a St. John’s-born social historian and prize-winning author who championed national awareness of Newfoundland and Labrador culture. The award was established in 2000 by her husband and is named after the historic house on Winter Avenue in St. John’s, where Sandra grew up.

SUSIE TAYLOR (she/her) is a queer writer living in rural Newfoundland and Labrador. Her first novel, Even Weirder Than Before, was published in 2019 by Breakwater Books. Her short stories have appeared in Geist, PRISM international, The Fiddlehead, Room, Riddle Fence, and elsewhere. She lives in Harbour Grace, NL, with her partner, dog, and four cats. When she isn’t writing, she is out running.

LISA MOORE is the author of the bestselling novels Alligator, February, and Caught; the story collections Open and Something for Everyone; and the young adult novel Flannery. Her books have been finalists for the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize, CBC Canada Reads, the Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize, the Giller Prize, and the Man Booker Prize, among many other honours and accolades. She lives in St. John’s, NL.

JACK WHALEN is the son, brother, husband, and father whose story became Invisible Prisons. He divides his time between family homes in Oshawa, ON, and St. John’s, NL. Recently, he can sometimes be found crossing the country in a truck carrying a replica of the cell in which he was once imprisoned, seeking justice for those who endured solitary confinement as children.

Media enquiries:
Charlene Jackson
Communications Officer, ArtsNL
(709) 726-2212 ext. 3
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 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, literary arts, multidisciplinary arts, music and sound, theatre and performing arts, and visual arts.

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