[4] There is no money awarded for the prize; in the first two years, the winners received a nominal prize of one Canadian dollar,[5] but since 2003 the recipients have been presented with a silver ring designed by Newfoundland artisan Christopher Kearney, featuring four inlaid movable dials engraved with all of the letters of the alphabet.
[6] The award was known for its use of what were commonly called "very longlists" or "long shortlists", with no limit on the number of works that could be nominated in a given year and no followup winnowing of the nominees into a shorter list of finalists.
[7] The award went on hiatus in the late 2010s, with no shortlists or winners announced for 2018, 2019 or 2020.
It was announced in January 2021 that management of the award had been taken over by Harvey's daughter Katherine Alexandra Harvey, with the project expanding to incorporate an online literary journal and a mentorship program for young writers.
[8] In April 2021, the shortlists and winners for all of the hiatus years were announced throughout the month.