Rick Mercer, Dawn Dumont, Uzma Jalaluddin, Mark Critch among writers longlisted for Leacock Medal for Humour
CBC Books | | Posted: June 1, 2022 3:40 PM | Last Updated: July 25, 2022
Books from Rick Mercer, Dawn Dumont, Uzma Jalaluddin and Mark Critch are among 10 titles longlisted for the 2022 Leacock Medal for Humour.
The Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour, an annual literary prize given to the year's funniest Canadian book, increased the grand prize amount from $15,000 to $25,000 in 2022.
One winner is selected each year from a shortlist of three books. Going forward, the two runner-ups will each receive $4,000, an increase from $3,000.
There were 78 books up for consideration this year.
Mercer's Talking to Canadians features anecdotes from the celebrated comedian's early life in Newfoundland and Labrador and his first attempts at acting, as well as about how he perfected the art of rubbing shoulders with high-profile people while also making fun of them.
Saskatoon author, columnist and comedian Dumont's novel The Prairie Chicken Dance Tour is also on the 2022 longlist. The comic novel, loosely based on a group of traditional dancers who toured Europe in the 1970s, was also nominated for a 2022 Saskatchewan Book Award.
Toronto writer Uzma Jalaluddin's rom-com novel Hana Khan Carries On is on the longlist. The book, a "meet-cute" story set against the backdrop of the immigrant experience, is being adapted into a film by Mindy Kaling and Amazon Studios.
Also on the longlist this year is Mark Critch for An Embarrassment of Critch's. The second memoir by the Canadian comedian follows his journey from Newfoundland to the national stage and back again.
The longlist for the 2022 Leacock Medal is:
- Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead by Emily Austin
- An Embarrassment of Critch's by Mark Critch
- The Prairie Chicken Dance Tour by Dawn Dumont
- Rocks With a Story by Lorne Eedy
- The Ark Of The Oven Mitt by James Gordon
- Hana Khan Carries On by Uzma Jalaluddin
- All Over the Map by Ron James
- Talking to Canadians by Rick Mercer
- The List of Last Chances by Cristina Myers
- Call Me Stan by K. R. Wilson
The prize is named in honour of Ontario writer Stephen Leacock, a humorist and popular author in the first half of the 20th century. His books included Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town, published in 1912, and Literary Lapses, published in 1910.
Three finalists will be revealed on Aug. 3, 2022, and the winner will be announced on Sept. 17, 2022 at the prize's 75th anniversary gala dinner.
Thomas King is the most recent Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal winner, receiving the 2021 prize for his novel Indians on Vacation.
Clarifications:- On July 22, 2022, it was announced the 2022 Leacock Medal for Humour shortlist reveal has been brought forward from Aug. 15 to Aug. 3, 2022. July 25, 2022 12:45 PM