Welcome to a special series of Art Pays Me interviews with the winners of the 2022 Creative Nova Scotia Awards. The awards are presented annually by Arts Nova Scotia and the Creative Nova Scotia Leadership Council. 

The goal is to celebrate excellence in artistic achievement – notably, the Portia White Prize. Winners of the Prix Grand Pré, the Established Artist, Emerging Artist, Indigenous Artist Recognition and Black Artist Recognition awards as well as the Creative Community Impact Award are also honoured. Collectively, the awards are worth $75,000.

Visit artsns.ca to nominate a Nova Scotia based artist or apply for awards and grants for yourself.

On this episode I chat with 2022 Creative Nova Scotia Emerging Artist Recognition Award recipient, Andre Fenton. Andre talks about his early interest in writing, telling stories and seeking characters that reflected his experience and his community. Today he's creating those stories and characters himself in his poetry and books. We learn about Andre's creative process and he lets us know what it means to him to be acknowledged for his contributions to the Nova Scotian creative scene.