2025

Nabila Qureshi is a social sciences enthusiast who greatly enjoys creative mediums that foster critical exploration & earnest expression. Her most recent artistic project was with TODOS Productions’ & White Rooster Theatre’s play ‘NewfoundLanded’. She essayed the roles of Co-playwright, Assistant Director, and Actor under the artistic mentorship of Santiago Guzmán. Since 2016, she has engaged in several staged readings of plays in workshop and development, and acted in White Rooster Theatre’s 2019 play ‘Remnants’, directed by Ruth Lawrence and written by Jenna Turk. 

She is the recipient of the 2019 YWCA St. John’s Women of Distinction award in Community & Social Development, and a co-recipient of the 2018 Atlantic Journalism Award (Silver) for best arts and entertainment reporting of any medium for Radio RIAC—a refugee and immigrant radio show. 

Nabila & her husband, Abdullah Omar Saif, will co-write a children’s play for Shakespeare by the Sea Festival’s 2026 season. 

Jeremy Nolan (he/him) is a multidisciplinary artist from St. John’s/Placentia, NL. Over the years, he has worked with Artistic Fraud and Rising Tide as an actor, as well as Perchance Theatre in various roles. You can also catch him in the new CBC show “Saint-Pierre.” His personal work dives into his experiences with chronic illnesses, mainly Cystic Fibrosis and his double lung transplant in 2014, and all the “fun” that comes with thar. His newest project “Shit, Piss, and Cystic Fibrosis” unravels his struggles with growing up in the medical industrial complex and the addictions that arise from receiving intense medications at an early age.

Jeremy is deeply honoured to receive the award in honour of the artist and legend Chris Brookes. Chris’s contribution to the local arts scene has paved the way for many beautiful pieces and artists over the decades. Jeremy is touched to follow Chris’s path, he would like to thank RCAT and the jury for their faith in him and his project.

2024

Sophie Angnatok (Anna-tok: Meeting of Women) Sophie Angnatok is an Inuk throat singer and drum dancer from Nain, Nunatsiavut. Inspired by a newspaper clip of her Anasiak Elizabeth Andersen (grandmother), Sophie has been practicing the art of throat-singing and traditional Inuit drumming for two decades. She is currently part of the Inuit drum dance group Kilautiup Songuninga (Strength of the Drum) and has been since 2010. In 2023 they were featured on the Mainstage of the St. John’s Folk Festival, as Sophie’s Grandmother Elizabeth and Aunt Susie Onalik were in 1984.

Sophie has performed for diverse audiences locally and across the country in many festivals, community functions, and arts-based events. Sophie has performed for the Canadian Prime Minister during The Truth and Reconciliation apology for Labradorimut and for the Governor General of Canada, Her Excellency the Right Honourable Mary May Simon.

Sophie currently lives in St. John’s, Newfoundland where she plays an active role with her local urban Inuit community. She is currently working with the Kim White and Louise Moyes Docudance inclusive project Let’s See (Digital Now, Canada Council) to develop her own solo show, Coming Full Circle. Sophie often shares her love and knowledge of Inuit culture, teaches workshops and is a leader in her practice.