Festival Dates
August 19 - 24, 2025
Writers at Woody Point is firmly rooted in Newfoundland literature, attracting both writers from abroad and those nurtured here at home. During the festival, writers and musicians connect with their audience in intimate venues, over dinner and drinks, or on a hike into the pristine hills, and soak up the area's own creative talent at exhibits of art and crafts, musical performances and impromptu after-hours celebrations that combine jam sessions, dancing and lots of laughter.
Writers
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Ann Patchett
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Kevin Barry
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Linden MacIntyre
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Lisa Moore
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Katherena Vermette
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Shelley Wood
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Bridget Canning
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R.H. Thomson
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![David Ferry]()
David Ferry
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Des Walsh
Musicians
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Ed Robertson
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The Once
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Duane Andrews and The Hot Club of Conception Bay
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Noah Guthrie
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Matthew Byrne
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Kim Stockwood
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![Hit Piece featuring Jodee Richardson]()
Hit Piece featuring Jodee Richardson
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![RASA]()
RASA
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Sherman Downey
2025 Poster Artist: Nelson White
We're delighted to share that Nelson White is the poster artist for this year's Writers at Woody Point. He's an accomplished and award winning artist who was recently long-listed for the prestigious 2025 Sobey Art Award and he's made a special artwork for us.
Nelson's inspiration for the piece was the electric excitement in the air as we gather outside of the Woody Point Heritage Theatre before festival events.
It's incredible to see connections being made - friends chatting, laughter echoing, and everyone soaking in the joyful experience of being a part of the magic of Writers at Woody Point. It’s more than just an event; it’s a celebration of community and camaraderie that brings us all together.
The piece is entitled "Waiting for Rick", which is a reference to Samuel Beckett's play "Waiting for Godot" and depicts the excited audience waiting for Rick Mercer's appearance at last year's festival.
Nelson White is an artist and member of the Flat Bay First Nation Band (No'kmaq Village) in Newfoundland.
Nelson attended the Visual Arts program at the Bay St. George Community College in Stephenville, NL and Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in Halifax, NS. Nelson exhibits throughout Canada and the US in both group and solo touring shows such as Tukien (Awken) which toured 5 institutional galleries.
His work has been featured on CBC’s The National and in Visual Arts News. His paintings are collected across North America, including the provincial art collection of NL, NS, PEI and the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian. In 2021 White participated in the Fogo Island Arts international residency and in 2022 a residency with OceanGate / Miawpukek Horizon that took him on an expedition to the Titanic Wreck site. He was named ArtsNL Artist of the Year for 2020 and the winner of 2022 VANL CARFAC Excellence in Visual Arts Milestone Award. He was long listed for the 2025 Sobey Art Award.
Nelson currently lives in St. John’s, NL with his family.
Our Hosts
Shelagh Rogers
Shelagh Rogers is very lucky to have known Alison Gzowski and Stephen Brunt for decades. 20 years ago, they were looking for an emcee for a gathering of Newfoundland writers and musicians in Woody Point. They asked Shelagh and she took to the idea. And has for 20 years.
The very first author on the very first edition of The Next Chapter, the CBC Radio program Shelagh hosted and co-produced for 15 years, was Donna Morrissey. Donna was launching her fourth novel “What They Wanted” at the very first Writers at Woody Point festival. She and Shelagh recorded a conversation about the novel where the story is set: Donna’s hometown of The Beaches on the Northern Peninsula. That conversation was a lively and lovely launch for the program.
The Next Chapter has fed like a vampire on the writers appearing at here at the festival. After 43 years, Shelagh has stepped down from CBC Radio. But the writers and musicians at Woody Point continue to feed her soul.
Angela Antle
Angela Antle is a PhD candidate at Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador and a member of Norway’s Empowered Futures 2023 cohort. A writer and former CBC producer, her work has been recognized by The New York Festivals, The Gabriel and Gracie Allen Awards, The Atlantic Journalism Awards, The Nickel, Berlinale, Dublin and Wexford Film Festivals. Her first novel will be published by Breakwater Books in 2025.
Tom Power
Tom Power is an award-winning musician and broadcaster, rarely seen without an instrument or microphone nearby. He blends a warm curiosity and playful wit to cover the arts, music and entertainment stories you're talking about, and the ones that are too interesting not to share.
Tom started his career in his hometown of St. John's, N.L., studying folklore by day and "gigging" (read: performing music) in pubs at night. He recorded his earliest interviews during those years, travelling around the region with a microphone to collect oral histories from his fellow Newfoundlanders.
He made his radio debut programming bluegrass music for a college radio show, wryly named Do-Si-DON'T. Tom quickly moved on to become a news announcer for a local radio station and, in 2008, joined CBC Radio as the host of the national folk music program DEEP ROOTS. Three years later, Tom shifted into the host chair of RADIO 2MORNING, CBC Radio's biggest national music show. He also became a trusted guest host on q and AS IT HAPPENS. Tom became the host of q in October 2016. Off the air, Tom fronts the folk-rock band The Dardanelles — known for drawing new audiences around the world to traditional Newfoundland music. He's also a member of the Polaris Music Prize jury, and has hosted and performed at major music festivals in Canada.
Elamin Abdelmahmoud
Special guest host, Elamin Abdelmahmoud, is a culture writer, CBC’s Commotion host, and former Pop Chat host. His work appears in Rolling Stone, The Globe and Mail, and beyond. He was a founding co-host of Party Lines and a panelist on CBC’s At Issue.
Lisa Moore
Special guest host, Lisa Moore, is the acclaimed author of the novels Caught, February, Alligator; the story collections Open and Something for Everyone; and the young-adult novel Flannery. Her books have won the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize and CBC’s Canada Reads, been finalists for the Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize and the Scotiabank Giller Prize and been longlisted for the Man Booker Prize. Lisa is also the co-librettist, along with Laura Kaminsky, of the opera February, based on her novel of the same name (2023). She lives in St. John’s, Newfoundland.
What’s it like to experience Writers at Woody Point? Checkout our wrap-up video from the 2023 festival.
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Dark Tickle
Sponsors
Our festival would not be possible without the support of our sponsors and funders. Please visit these sites and establishments, and let them know that you saw them here. We appreciate their continued support.
BMO is this year’s presenting sponsor. Our thanks to BMO for their generous support.
Gold Sponsors
Silver Sponsors
Community Partners
Government Funders
We acknowledge the support of ArtsNL, which last year invested $2.5 million to foster and promote the creation and enjoyment of the arts for the benefit of all Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.
Hospitality & Gift Bag Partners
The Legion
Pike's Service Station
Raw Island Botanicals
The Old Loft
Gros Morne Coffee Roasters
Rugged Edge