Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour
The Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour (usually the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour, or just: The Stephen Leacock Award) is an annual award presented to the best work of humorous literature written in English by a Canadian. The award is a tribute to well-known Canadian humorist Stephen Leacock (1869–1944), and is accompanied by a cash prize of $10 000 (CAD). It is presented each year during a banquet ceremony in Leacock’s hometown of Orillia, Ontario.
The Leacock Associates is the organising body behind the award, and was founded in 1946 by a loose group of Leacock’s friends and supporters. Each year the Associates’ board of directors appoints a panel of suitable judges from around the country, who select from submitted works a short list of five books. It is one of the oldest literary prizes in Canada, and is the only one awarded to a work of humour.
The cash prize began in 1970, as a $2500 award co-sponsored by Manulife Insurance and the Hudson's Bay Company. The following decades saw gradual increases in the amount of the prize under a number of donors, reaching its current value of $10 000 in 2002, sponsored by the TD Bank Financial Group.
In 1969 the Associates established a quarterly newsletter called The Newspacket to commemorate the bicentennial of the Author’s birth. The publication prints excerpts from nominated books, and is itself a showcase for Canadian humour writing. In 1977 the group established a Student Award for Humour, which honours young writers from secondary and post-secondary levels.
Winners
- 1947 - Harry L. Symons, Ojibway Melody
- 1948 - Paul Hiebert, Sarah Binks
- 1949 - Angeline Hango, Truthfully Yours
- 1950 - Earle Birney, Turvey
- 1951 - Eric Nicol, The Roving I
- 1952 - Jan Hilliard, The Salt Box
- 1953 - Lawrence Earl, The Battle of Baltinglass
- 1954 - Joan Walker, Pardon My Parka
- 1955 - Robertson Davies, Leaven of Malice
- 1956 - Eric Nicol, Shall We Join The Ladies?
- 1957 - Robert Thomas Allen The Grass is Never Greener
- 1958 - Eric Nicol, Girdle Me A Globe
- 1959 - No Award Given
- 1960 - Pierre Berton, Just Add Water and Stir
- 1961 - Norman Ward, Mice in the Beer
- 1962 - W. O. Mitchell, Jake and the Kid
- 1963 - Donald Jack, Three Cheers for Me
- 1964 - Harry J. Boyle, Homebrew and Patches
- 1965 - Gregory Clark, War Stories
- 1966 - George Bain, Nursery Rhymes to be Read Aloud by Young Parents with Old Children
- 1967 - Richard J. Needham, Needham's Inferno
- 1968 - Max Ferguson, And Now...Here's Max
- 1969 - Stuart Trueman, You're Only as Old as You Act
- 1970 - Farley Mowat, The Boat Who Wouldn't Float
- 1971 - Robert Thomas Allen, Wives, Children and Other Wild Life
- 1972 - Max Braithwaite, The Night We Stole the Mountie's Car
- 1973 - Donald Bell, Saturday Night at the Bagel Factory
- 1974 - Donald Jack, That's Me in the Middle
- 1975 - Morley Torgov, A Good Place to Come From
- 1976 - Harry J. Boyle, The Luck of the Irish
- 1977 - Ray Guy, That Far Greater Bay
- 1978 - Ernest Buckler, Whirligig
- 1979 - Sondra Gotlieb, True Confessions
- 1980 - Donald Jack, Me Bandy, You Cissie
- 1981 - Gary Lautens, Take My Family...Please!
- 1982 - Mervyn J. Huston, Gophers Don't Pay Taxes
- 1983 - Morley Torgov, The Outside Chance of Maximilian Glick
- 1984 - Gary Lautens, No Sex Please...We're Married
- 1985 - Ted Allan, Love is a Long Shot
- 1986 - Joey Slinger, No Axe too Small to Grind
- 1987 - W.P. Kinsella, The Fencepost Chronicles
- 1988 - Paul Quarrington, King Leary
- 1989 - Joe Kertes, Winter Tulips
- 1990 - W.O. Mitchell, According to Jake and the Kid
- 1991 - Howard White, Writing in the Rain
- 1992 - Roch Carrier, Prayers of a Very Wise Child
- 1993 - Joseph Levesque, Waiting for Aquarius
- 1994 - Bill Richardson, Bachelor Brothers Bed and Breakfast
- 1995 - Josh Freed, Fear of Frying and other Fax of Life
- 1996 - Marsha Boulton, Letters from the Country
- 1997 - Arthur Black, Black in the Saddle Again
- 1998 - Mordecai Richler, Barney's Version
- 1999 - Stuart McLean, Home from the Vinyl Cafe
- 2000 - Arthur Black, Black Tie and Tales
- 2001 - Stuart McLean, Vinyl Cafe Unplugged
- 2002 - Will Ferguson, Generica
- 2003 - Dan Needles, With Axe and Flask: A History of Persephone Township From Pre-Cambrian Times to the Present
- 2004 - Ian Ferguson, Village of the Small House: A Memoir of Sorts
- 2005 - Will Ferguson, Beauty Tips from Moose Jaw
- 2006 - Arthur Black, Pitch Black
- 2007 - Stuart McLean, Secrets from the Vinyl Cafe
External links
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
