Drew Hayden Taylor among 11 writers longlisted for $15K Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour
Samraweet Yohannes | | Posted: April 20, 2020 5:36 PM | Last Updated: April 20, 2020
Playwright and novelist Drew Hayden Taylor is among the 11 writers longlisted for the 73rd Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour. Taylor is nominated for the play Cottagers and Indians.
The prize, worth $15,000, is awarded to the best book of humour each year.
There were 84 books up for consideration this year.
The 2020 longlist includes eleven books instead of the usual 10. A press release said that two books tied for last place.
Taylor's Cottagers and Indians explores the relationship between Indigenous residents and recreational cottagers living on the same lake in the Kawarthas region of Ontario and it's based on a true story that took place in the Kawartha Lakes region of Ontario.
Broadcaster Bill Richardson is also on the longlist for I Saw Three Ships.
I Saw Three Ships features eight linked stories, all set around Christmastime in Vancouver's West End neighbourhood, and explores a community vanishing under pressure from development and skyrocketing real-estate prices.
Richardson previously won the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour in 1994 with his book Bachelor Brothers' Bed and Breakfast.
The longlist for the 2020 Leacock Medal is:
- All the Wrong Moves by Sasha Chapin
- The New Canadian Curling Club by Mark Crawford
- Are You Kidding Me?! by Lesley Crewe
- Out for Stars by Colleen Curran
- The Art of Being Lewis by Daniel Goodwin
- Molly of the Mall by Heidi L. M. Jacobs
- Christmas in Mariposa by Jamie Lamb
- Cafe Conversations by Marion Reidel
- I Saw Three Ships by Bill Richardson
- Crow by Amy Spurway
- Cottagers and Indians by Drew Hayden Taylor
Three finalists will be revealed on May 1, 2020 and the winner will be announced on June 5, 2020.
The 2020 Stephen Leacock Memorial Award for Humour gala dinner was cancelled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The winner will receive their medal and prize money as scheduled.
All of the 2020 shortlisted authors will be invited to attend next year's gala in June 2021 for a belated celebration.
Other past winners include Patrick deWitt, Cassie Stocks and Terry Fallis.