Joseph S. Stauffer Prizes

Current Winners

Stéfanie Clermont (Literature)

Stéfanie Clermont was born in Ottawa in 1988. In 2017, she published Le jeu de la musique (Le Quartanier), which won the 2018 Adrienne Choquette prize. In 2017, it also won the Œuvre de la relève à Montréal, which is awarded by the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec. Clermont lives in Montréal.

Carmen Papalia (Visual Arts)

Carmen Papalia uses organizing strategies and improvisation to address his access to public space, art institutions and visual culture. His work, which takes forms ranging from collaborative performance to public intervention, is a response to the barriers and biases of systems that enforce ableist concepts of normalcy and standards rooted in Western medical tradition. As a convener, he establishes welcoming spaces where those from historically marginalized groups realize their desires for participation through processes rooted in activism, performance and institutional critique.

Papalia’s work has been featured at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (New York), Tate Liverpool, the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, and Gallery Gachet (Vancouver), among others.

Tara Williamson (Music)

Tara Williamson is an Anishinaabe/Nehiyaw singer/songwriter from Manitoba. Her first full-length album, Songs to Keep Us Warm (produced by Jim Bryson), was nominated for Best Pop Album at the 2017 Indigenous Music Awards.

Williamson’s first 2 EPs—Lie Low (produced by James McKenty) and ndn summer (produced by Kinnie Starr)—continue to receive attention and airplay across Turtle Island and internationally. Her sophomore album, Enough (produced by Justin Delorme), will be released in the spring of 2021.

Tara is also a professional educator, writer and researcher and holds degrees in social work, law, and Indigenous governance.