Stephen Leacock Associates

Student Competition on Hiatus

Stephen Leacock Associates announces that the student humorous essay competition has been put on hold for 2019, pending its restructuring. Over the next year, we will be looking at ways of reaching more students across Ontario by whatever methods are most appropriate, and at the timing of submission deadlines, judging, award announcements and award presentations.

October 24, 2018

2018 Student Competition

STEPHEN LEACOCK STUDENT HUMOROUS SHORT STORY COMPETITION 2018

WINNERS ANNOUNCED!

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

Important Dates

CONTEST CLOSED: Deadline for submissions.

May 15, 2018: Announcement of winners

June 8, 2018: Winners will read their work at the Laugh With Leacock evening

June 9, 2018: Presentation of Student Award to the winner at the Gala Dinner

Criteria for 2018 Competition

Entry to this competition is limited to students of Ontario’s Public and Private Secondary Schools
Entry will be an original humorous story or humorous personal essay in English
Maximum length: 1500 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, it’s 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 Crescent, Orillia, Ontario, L3V 6N6.
The fee is $5.00 per entry
The competition is open for entries, which must be postmarked no later than April 15, 2018.
The winners will be announced around May 15, 2018.
The cash award for this year’s winner is $1000, plus the winner will receive two tickets to the Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal Banquet held at the Geneva Park Conference Centre, June 9, 2018, accommodation for two nights, and an autographed copy of the 2018 Leacock Medal-winning book
The second place winner will receive $700; the third place, $300.
All three student winners will have two tickets each for the 'Meet the Authors' night at The Mariposa Inn - Friday, June 8, 2018 - one for themselves, plus one for their guest. Other tickets may be purchased.
All winners will read their stories that evening, as part of the 'Meet the Authors' program.

Inquiries may be made by email to Christine Spear, Registrar - Student Awards, at studentawards@leacock.ca.

How the Student Competition is judged

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), who are all published authors. Many over the years have been winners of, or short-listed for, the Leacock Medal for Humour.

The judges rank and assess each work according to merit criteria, and the highest ranked three are considered winners.