RELEASE: The BMO Winterset Award turns 25

Jan 24, 2025

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The BMO Winterset Award turns 25

January 24, 2025 (St. John’s, NL) – The BMO Winterset Award celebrates its 25th anniversary year with a one-time $12,500 prize. This year there will be four literary prizes: a $12,500 award for fiction, a $12,500 award for non-fiction, and two runner-up awards at $3,000 each.

The BMO Winterset Award was established in 2000 by journalist and author, Richard Gwyn, OC, to honour the memory of his late wife, Sandra Fraser Gwyn, OC, a St. John’s-born social historian, prize-winning author, and passionate promoter of Newfoundland and Labrador. Since Richard’s passing in August 2020, his widow, Carol Bishop Gwyn, a Canadian writer and dance academic, has continued to support Newfoundland and Labrador’s most lucrative literary award.

“I wanted to do something significant to mark the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the BMO Winterset Award,” said Carol Bishop Gwyn. “Since both Richard and Sandra were non-fiction writers, I thought a special 25th-anniversary award should honour a Newfoundland and Labrador creative non-fiction writer. This felt like a fitting way to celebrate their contributions to Canadian literature and recognize the importance of non-fiction in their legacy.”

The BMO Winterset Award is managed by ArtsNL and is made possible through generous support from BMO Financial Group in partnership with the Sandra Fraser Gwyn Foundation.

This year, public readings by the finalists will take place at The Rooms Theatre on Wednesday, April 9, 2025, at 7:00 p.m. The winners will be announced on Thursday, April 10, 2025, at a special ceremony hosted at Government House in St. John’s.

Media enquiries:
Charlene Jackson
Communications Officer
(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, multidiscipline, music, theatre, visual art, and writing.

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