Media
Release
Mark
Leiren-Young Wins 2009 Leacock Medal For Humour
The
misadventures of a rookie reporter in the backwoods of British Columbia seems an
appropriate recipe for humour and for Mark Leiren-Young, it is a prize-winning
recipe. The Vancouver based playwright/film-maker/writer has been named the
winner of the 2009 Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour and the TD Bank Financial
Group’s
$15
000 cash prize for his book Never Shoot a Stampede Queen : A Rookie Reporter in
the Cariboo.
The
announcement was made at a noontime luncheon, hosted by the Stephen Leacock
Association, on Thursday, April 30 in Swanmore Hall on the grounds of the
historical Stephen Leacock Memorial Museum in Orillia, Ontario.
President
of the Leacock Association, Wayne Scott, announced the winner before a standing
room-only audience that included several of the nominated authors,
representatives from Canada’s publishing industry, honoured guests, sponsors
and media.
“We
are pleased to see the continuing interest in humour writing in Canada,”
stated Mr. Scott. “This year, we had forty-seven nominees from across Canada
and an outstanding short list. The Leacock association is proud to continue this
tradition of honouring not only some of our best humorists, but some of our best
writers period!”
Never
Shoot A Stampede Queen, Mr. Leiren-Young’s first book, is a memoir of his
adventures living and working in the B.C. interior town of Williams Lake. Not
only does the author recount his encounters with the police, loggers, the fire
department, fellow workers and yes - beauty contest aspirants for the local
rodeo - but he tells his story with both humour and compassion. As his readers
will find out, it is a wonderfully amusing story.
The
other books short-listed for this year’s award were Kill All the Judges by
William Deverell, Kiss the Joy As It Flies by Sheree Fitch, Uproar by Jack
MacLeod and In the Land of the Long Fingernails by Charles Wilkins. Each of the
other finalists will, for the first time in the award’s history, be awarded
cheques for $1500, also courtesy of the TD Bank Financial Group.
The
Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour has been awarded since 1947 as a means to
honour the dean of Canadian humourists and to perpetuate humorous writing in
Canada. Some of our finest authors - Pierre Berton, W.O. Mitchell, Mordecai
Richler and Robertson Davies - have all been recipients of the award over the
past six decades. Last year’s winner was first-time author Terry Fallis for
his political satire The Best Laid Plans. Both the silver Leacock medal and the
cheque will be presented to the winner at the annual Leacock dinner to be held
June 13, 2009 at Geneva Park, near Orillia.
2009
SHORT LIST
Award-winning
children's author Sheree Fitch, renowned crime writer William Deverell and
former University of Toronto political science professor Jack MacLeod are among
the 2009 finalists who were announced today for the Stephen Leacock Memorial
Medal for Humour.
The
Orillia-based Stephen Leacock Association awards the annual literary prize to
the English-language book judged to be the most humorous one published in
Canada, by a Canadian, in the previous year. This national award includes a
$15,000 cash prize courtesy of TD Bank Financial Group and the silver Leacock
Memorial Medal. This year, for the first time ever, each of the four runners-up
will also receive a cheque for $1500 for their efforts thanks also to TD.
Terry
Fallis won the medal in 2008 for his book The Best Laid Plans, marking the first
time a self-published novel had ever won this prestigious award. "The
Leacock Memorial Award has recognized Canadian literary talent for more than 50
years. Given the steady stream of hilarious, homegrown work being written, we
think it's here to stay and we're proud to support it," said Jamie Collins,
District Vice President, TD Canada Trust. "Our community giving efforts
include several reading programs however one of the most effective ways to
increase literacy levels is by simply enjoying a good book. We share in the
excitement of this award with the finalists."
This
year's finalists include William Deverell for his book Kill All the
Judges. No newcomer to award recognition, Mr. Deverell won the 2006 Arthur Ellis
Award, the 1997 Hammett Prize for literary excellence in crime writing and the
$50,000 Seal Award for his first novel back in 1979. Poet and children's author
Sheree Fitch also made the Leacock Award shortlist with her book titled Kiss the
Joy As It Flies, a bittersweet and irreverent look at dying. Mark Leiren-Young's
portrait of small-town British Columbia, as seen through the eyes of a rookie
newspaper reporter, is chronicled in Never Shoot A Stampede Queen. Jack
MacLeod's novel Uproar offers a humorous story which touches on serious issues
at the same time that it makes you laugh. In the Land of the Long Fingernails is
the unusual title of Charles Wilkins' memoir about his summer job as a
gravedigger back in 1969.
Six
judges from across Canada and a group of 11 readers from the local community
will select the winner, to be announced April 30, 2009 at the Stephen Leacock
Museum in Orillia, Ontario.
The
Leacock Medal for Humour was first awarded in 1947, three years after the death
of the author of Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town. Past Leacock winners
include W.O. Mitchell, Pierre Berton, Farley Mowat, Roch Carrier, Mordecai
Richler and Robertson Davies.
The Orillia area readers who act as judges for the
annual Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour met on September 13 in preparation for
the 2009 award. The local judges,
in conjunction with national judges from across the country, read humour books
that are submitted by publishers and by self-published authors. In early March,
the judges cast their votes for the award. The finalists are announced April 1 and then the winner is named
April 30. At a gala dinner in June, the
winner receives the Medal and the cash award, which is courtesy of TD Financial
Group. Last year’s winner was Terry Fallis for his book The Best Laid Plans.
The criteria for acceptance of the books is that they
be published in the year prior to the award; that they be written by a Canadian
author; that they not be a collection by a number of writers nor can they be
books which have had substantial parts published in other forms; that they be
humorous and finally, that they not be “virtual” or electronic books. ]
The local readers/judges are pictured here: (left
to right) Michael Hill, Rita Burrows, Judith Rapson, Marilyn Rumball, Bette
Walker, Susan Irwin, Don Reid, Wayne Scott,
Maureen Harris
Absent are Wendy McComb and Jody Shaefer.
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2009 DATES
Leacock
Soiree - June 12, Leacock Museum
Gala
Dinner - June 13, Geneva Park
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