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 centenary 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

* [http://www.leacock.ca/ Leacock Medal for Humour Website]