2018 Student Competition

STEPHEN LEACOCK STUDENT HUMOROUS SHORT STORY COMPETITION 2018

This page will be updated towards the end of 2017 to relate to the competition for 2018.

2017 Student Competition

STEPHEN LEACOCK STUDENT HUMOROUS SHORT STORY COMPETITION 2017

— Entries closed on APRIL 30, 2017 —

FIRST PRIZE – $1,000
SECOND PRIZE – $700
THIRD PRIZE – $300

Important Dates

April 30, 2017: Deadline for submissions.

May 15, 2017: Announcement of winners

June 10, 2017: Presentation of awards at the Gala Dinner

Criteria for 2017 Competition

Entry to this contest is limited to students of Ontario’s Secondary Schools, public and private.
Entry will be a humorous story or humorous personal essay.
Maximum length: 1,500 words.
Entry must have a title and be typed, double-spaced on one side of the page only.
Pages must be numbered, but no other identifying marks may appear on them.
A cover page must be included and must list the title of the submission, the name of the student, the name of the school attended, its telephone number and email address.
Three copies of each entry, plus the entry fee, must be mailed to Christine Spear, Contest Registrar, 8-40 Victoria Cres, Orillia, ON L3V 6N6. The fee is $5 per entry.
Entries are now closed. The winners will be announced around May 15, 2017.
The cash award for this year’s contest is $1,000. The winner will receive two tickets to the Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal Banquet gala held at the Geneva Park Conference Centre, June 10, 2017, accommodation for two nights, and an autographed copy of the medal-winning book. All winners will be honoured at a soiree at the Stephen Leacock Home, Old Brewery Bay, the Friday before the award banquet: June 9.
The second-place winner will receive $700; the third place, $300. Both runners-up are invited to attend the Friday evening soiree.

We are pleased to announce this year’s contest is again sponsored in full by Thor Motors (Orillia’s only Ford dealership) and TD Bank.

Inquiries may be made by email to cspear875@outlook.com.

How student judging works

To make judging as fair as possible, all entries are judged blind. Entries are opened on arrival in Orillia by a disinterested party who removes the cover page and assigns a number to the entry. The number is placed in a register, along with the student’s name and school, and the numbered entry is then passed to the committee. The register is not returned to the committee until the judging is complete.

We have three judges (they change every two years or so). All judges are published authors. Many over the years have been winners of, or short-listed for, the Leacock Medal for Humour.