ArtsNL announced the finalists for the 2017 BMO Winterset Award.
The finalists are Bridget Canning for “The Greatest Hits of Wanda Jaynes”, Breakwater Books, St. John’s; Joel Thomas Hynes for “We’ll All Be Burnt In Our Beds Some Night”, Harper Perennial, imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd., Toronto; and Wayne Johnston for “First Snow, Last Light”, Alfred A. Knopf Canada, imprint of Penguin Random House Ltd.,Toronto.
The winner will receive a prize of $12,500 and the two finalists will each receive $3,000.
The BMO Winterset Award, which celebrates excellence in Newfoundland and Labrador writing, honours the memory of Sandra Fraser Gwyn, a St. John’s-born social historian, prize-winning author and passionate promoter of Newfoundland and Labrador arts. Her husband, journalist and author Richard Gwyn, established the award in 2000. It’s named after the historic house on Winter Avenue in St. John’s where Sandra grew up.
Books in any genre published in 2017 were eligible for the award. A total of 31 works by Newfoundland and Labrador authors (either native-born or resident) were submitted by publishers from across the country.
Finalists will read from their works and answer questions from the audience at a public reading and reception at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 21 at The Rooms in St. John’s.
