2025 Symons Medal Presentation & Lecture

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Acclaimed Canadian novelist Miriam Toews will receive the 2025 Symons Medal, one of the country’s most prestigious honours recognizing exceptional contributions to Canadian life. Following the medal presentation, in a special highlight of this year’s event, Toews will then join veteran broadcaster Shelagh Rogers—host of CBC Radio’s The Next Chapter and a 2022 Symons Medallist—for an unscripted on-stage conversation through the lens of her life and writing. Known for her warmth and insight, Rogers will bring her signature style to a dialogue that promises to be intimate, thought-provoking, and deeply resonant. This extraordinary pairing of two of Canada’s most influential voices makes the 2025 Symons Medal Presentation a must-attend occasion.

Best known for her bestselling novels 'Fight Night', 'Women Talking', 'All My Puny Sorrows', 'A Complicated Kindness', and her newly released memoir, 'A Truce That Is Not Peace', Toews has captivated readers worldwide with her compassion, humour, and unforgettable storytelling. Her work has earned major literary awards, and Women Talking was adapted into Sarah Polley’s Academy Award–winning film.

The Symons Medal recognizes individuals who have made exceptional contributions to Canadian life. Since 2004, the Centre has honoured 27 distinguished medallists, including Mary Simon, Senator Murray Sinclair, Dr. David Suzuki, Bob Rae, and Paul Gross. Rogers was also a Symons Medal recipient in 2022.

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Confederation Centre of the Arts

Located downtown in historic Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Confederation Centre of the Arts explores the origins and evolution of Canada through a rich variety of arts and heritage programming. We inspire Canadians to consider our country’s past, present, and future through performing arts, visual arts, and interactive learning experiences.

Confederation Centre of the Arts operates on Epekwitk, in Mi’kma’ki, the traditional territory of the Mi’kmaq people. We work in collaboration and friendship with First Nations, Métis, and Inuit artists and storytellers from across Canada to share stories and history, and to promote cultural learning and understanding.

As a national historic site, the Centre has a responsibility to reflect the many identities in an evolving nation, to understand and share the truth about all aspects of Canadian confederation, and to contribute to reconciliation by acting as a convener of voices.

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