Will
Ferguson Named Winner of 2010 Leacock
Medal for Humour for the third time
 
With
Thursday’s announcement that he is the winner of the 2010 Stephen Leacock
Medal for Humour and TD’s $15 000 cash prize, Will Ferguson becomes the fifth
Canadian author to win this prestigious literary award three times. Ferguson’s
most recent book, titled Beyond Belfast,
was named the best book of humour published in Canada in the past year by a
panel of national judges and Orillia’s Stephen Leacock Association. Mr.
Ferguson had previously won the award in 2002 and again in 2005. Vancouver
humorist Eric Nicol won the award three times in the 1950s, Donald Jack scored
the literary hat trick with three of his novels in the Bandy series and more
recently Arthur Black won it in 1997, 2000 and 2006. Stuart McLean has won three
times for his “Vinyl Café” stories.
The
announcement was made at a noontime luncheon at Swanmore Hall on the grounds of
the Stephen Leacock Memorial Museum in Orillia, Ontario. The renowned Canadian
author’s former summer home is now a national historic site.
Michael
Hill, President of the Stephen Leacock Association, announced the winner before
a standing room only audience which included several of the nominated authors, a
number of representatives from Canada’s publishing industry, honoured guests,
sponsors and media.
Beyond
Belfast, published by Penguin Group
Canada is best summed up by its subtitle: A
560 Mile Walk Across Northern
Ireland on Sore Feet. The
author’s personal backpacking odyssey through the land of his forefathers took
him to wondrous vistas, into dangerous encounters and put him in close contact
with all manners of wild beasts (mostly ovine) and odd characters (mostly
Gaelic.) He has written about his trek around “the Ulster Way,” an
ill-defined footpath around the northern chunk of the Emerald Isle in such a way
that you laugh along with him but wouldn’t really be tempted to follow in his
footsteps.
The
other books nominated for this year’s award were The
Curse of the Labrador Duck by Glen Chilton, Snow Job by William Deverell, Corked
by Kathryn Borel and The Rock in the Water
by Bill Conall. Each of the other finalists will receive a $1500 prize, also
courtesy of TD.
“Mr.
Ferguson’s impressive track record of winning this award for the third time
proves his ability to keep Canadians entertained,” said Frank McKenna, Deputy
Chair, TD Bank Financial Group. “We congratulate him and all of this year’s
finalists for their literary contributions – all of which add to Canada’s
exceptional showcase of written humour.”
The
Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour has been awarded since 1947 as a means to
honour the dean of Canadian humourists and to perpetuate comedic writing in
Canada. Some of our finest writers - Pierre Berton, W.O. Mitchell, Mordecai
Richler and Robertson Davies - have all been recipients of the award over the
past six decades. In addition to winning the silver medal, the winner also
receives a $15 000 cash prize which will be presented at the annual Leacock
dinner to be held June 12, 2010 at Geneva Park, near Orillia.
Media
Release
For
release Thursday, April 1 10:30 am
Books
by a former award winner and perennial nominee Will Ferguson and by renowned
crime writer William Deverell are among the 2009 finalists for the Stephen
Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour.
The
Orillia-based Stephen Leacock Association awards the annual literary prize to
the book judged to be the most humorous one published in Canada, by a Canadian,
in the previous year. This national award carries a $15,000 cash prize courtesy
of TD Financial Group and the winner also receives a silver Leacock Memorial
Medal. The four runners-up will also receive cheques for their efforts.
Mark
Leiren-Young won the medal last year for his memoir Never Shoot a Stampede
Queen: A Rookie Reporter in the Cariboo.
This
year’s finalists include William Deverell for his book Snow Job. He was also a
Leacock medal finalist last year for his book Kill All the Judges. Author Bill
Conall’s book The Rock in the Water, is described on its cover blurb as
“sunshine sketches of a little island,” an appropriate tip of the hat to
Professor Leacock. Another memoir, Corked by Kathryn Borel Jr. is a witty
account of a father-daughter road trip through the wine regions of France. The
book is quirky, bitter-sweet and touching. Will Ferguson’s Beyond Belfast
takes us on the author’s uproarious hiking trip around Northern Ireland,
exploring the history and religious strife – but in a very funny fashion. Glen
Chilton’s The Curse of the Labrador Duck is an account of tracking down the
remains of a long extinct bird in a host of museums world-wide and the humour to
be found in such a quest is remarkable.
Six
national judges from across Canada and a group of 11 readers in Orillia will
select the winner, to be announced April 29 at the Stephen Leacock Museum.
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, Stuart Mclean, Mordecai
Richler and Robertson Davies.
For
more information, contact: Michael Hill, President, Stephen Leacock Association,
705-325-9843
Where:
TD Canada Trust, Downtown Branch, 39 Peter Street N, Orillia ON
When:
10:30 am, Thursday, April 1
|
2010
WINNER
DATES
Short
List Announcement
April
1, 10:30 am in Orillia;
Announcement
Luncheon
April
29, 11:30 am, Leacock Museum in Orillia
Award
Dinner
June
12, 5:30 pm, Geneva Park
|
