ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — A writer from this province is being considered for a prestigious national award.
Bernadine (Berni) Stapleton has been named to the longlist for the 2020 CBC nonfiction prize for “Hitchcock in Havana.” The CBC Literary Prizes are the considered the most important prizes awarded to unpublished literary work in Canada.
The finalists for the 2020 CBC Nonfiction Prize will be announced Thursday.
In addition to a cash prize of $6,000 from the Canada Council for the Arts, the grand prize winner will receive a two-week writing residency at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, and will be published on the CBC Books website.
The four runners-up will each receive $1,000 from the Canada Council for the Arts and will be published on CBC Books.
Stapleton, who was born in North West River, Labrador, and grew up on the south coast of Newfoundland before moving to St. John’s, is a well-known actor and comedian.
She was writer in residence at Memorial University in 2019. Her play “The Pope and Princess Di” was recently listed on the Playwrights Guild of Canada Sure Fire List of top 23 plays by female playwrights in Canada. She is the recipient of the 2018 Arts and Letters best dramatic script for her one-woman play “Dolly.”
Her book for young Selkies and other creatures is called, “Girly Muckle and the Queer Hands.” She is one of the featured performers in the acclaimed Artistic Fraud production of “Between Breaths.”
Stapleton is a recipient of the Rhonda Payne Award from Arts NL. Her short stories and essays have appeared in Riddle Fence and The Newfoundland Quarterly.
