The provincial government has named the winners of the 2026 Arts and Letters competition.
Prizes totaling more than $47,000 were awarded in a number of categories including visual arts, literature and music.
Of the 507 submissions received, there were 29 winning entries in the junior division and 31 winning entries in the senior division, with five winners chosen in the one-time HERSTORY Empowers category.
2026 Arts and Letters Awards Recipients
JUNIOR AWARD WINNERS
Junior Poetry [15 and Under] ($350 prize)
Adjudicators: Danielle Devereaux; Jennifer Newhook; Craig Francis Power
Junior Poetry [16-20] ($350 prize)
Adjudicators: Danielle Devereaux; Jennifer Newhook; Craig Francis Power
Dust Upon the Mantel (Saudade)
On the Intimacy of a Clementine
Junior Prose [15 and Under] ($350 prize)
Adjudicators: Charis Cotter; Ray Critch
The Weight of What Remains
O’Donnell Military School
Junior Prose [16-20] ($350 prize)
Adjudicators: Charis Cotter; Ray Critch
Murder in the Carpathians
Junior French Literary ($350 prize)
Adjudicator: Paul Rowe
Junior Music [15 and Under] ($350 prize)
Adjudicators: Tom Gordon; Rozalind MacPhail
Junior Music [16-20] ($350 prize)
Adjudicators: Tom Gordon; Rozalind MacPhail
Junior Visual [15 and Under] ($350 prize)
Adjudicators: Brian Amadi; Bethany Mackenzie
The Consequence of Curiosity
My great grandfather’s boat, The Drusilla Theresa Schooner
LadyCats and GentleKits…the Meep Circus!
Junior Visual [16-20] ($350 prize)
Adjudicators: Brian Amadi; Bethany Mackenzie
It’s What’s Inside That Counts
Summer on Exploits Island
SENIOR AWARD WINNERS
Senior Poetry ($1000 prize)
Adjudicators: Andreae Callanan; Aaron Tucker
Coming Upon a Moose Accident on the TCH
Senior Short Fiction ($1000 prize)
Adjudicators: Shelly Kawaja; Chad Pelley
Senior Nonfiction ($1000 prize)
Adjudicator: Debbie McGee
Senior Dramatic Script ($1000 prize)
Adjudicator: Sharon King-Campbell
Senior French Literary ($1000 prize)
Adjudicators: Paul Rowe
Katherine Alexandra Harvey
Quand Je T’aurai Quitte
Percey Janes First Novel Award ($2,500 prize)
Adjudicator: Trudy Morgan-Cole
Senior Music ($1000 prize)
Adjudicators: Tom Gordon, Rozalind MacPhail
Senior Visual ($1000 prize)
Adjudicators: Daniel Rumbolt; Anita Singh; Kym Greeley
Branch two generations ago, in wool sweaters
Misty Morning Petty Harbour
HERSTORY Empowers Special Category ($1000 prize)
Adjudicators: Andrea Cooper; Michelle Butler Hallett; Anne Troake
The Slow Turning of Paper
Voluntarily Unsex Themselves