Wayne Johnston, Susan Juby and Zarqa Nawaz named finalists for $25K Leacock Medal for humour writing
The Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour has announced the finalists for 2023.
The $25,000 prize will be awarded to one of three finalists — Wayne Johnston, Susan Juby or Zarqa Nawaz. The finalists were chosen from a 10-title longlist.
The Leacock Medal of Humour annually awards writers for excellence in Canadian humour writing. The award was first given out in 1947, and 2023 marks its 76th anniversary.
Johnston is nominated for his memoir Jennie's Boy.
Jennie's Boy is based on Johnston's childhood in Newfoundland. At seven years old, Johnston was sick and too skinny. He had insomnia and a cough that wouldn't go away, despite the doctors removing his tonsils, adenoids and appendix in an effort to cure him. Jennie's Boy, named after Johnston's mother, is his tribute to his family and a community that were incredibly protective over him but were tired of making allowances for him.
Johnston is a writer born and raised in Goulds, NL. His first book, 1985's The Story of Bobby O'Malley, won the Books in Canada/W.H. Smith First Novel Award. His 1999 memoir, Baltimore's Mansion, received the RBC Taylor Prize. His 1998 novel, The Colony of Unrequited Dreams, was shortlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize and was a Canada Reads finalist in 2003, when it was defended by Justin Trudeau. Johnston is also the author of novels First Snow, Last Light, The Divine Ryans and The Navigator of New York.
Juby is nominated for her book Mindful of Murder.
Mindful of Murder is a novel that follows Helen Thorpe, a newly trained butler. On the day she is supposed to start her career professionally serving one of the world's wealthiest families, she gets a call from her former employer. Her old boss Edna has died, leaving Helen to settle her affairs and execute her particularly detailed will. As Helen carries out the will's instructions, she begins to think that someone had reason to want Edna dead and enlists the help of her fellow butlers to solve the mystery.
Juby is a Nanaimo, B.C.-based writer. Her other novels include Alice, I Think, Nice Recovery and Republic of Dirt, which won the Leacock Medal for Humour in 2016.
The third finalist is Nawaz for her novel Jameela Green Ruins Everything.
Jameela Green Ruins Everything is a satirical novel about a young woman named Jameela Green, whose biggest dream is to see her novel become a bestseller. When that dream doesn't come true, she becomes involved in her local mosque, which inadvertently leads her to infiltrating an international terrorist organization. Jameela Green Ruins Everything explores success, searching for meaning and community, and the failures of American foreign policy.
Nawaz is a film and TV producer, writer and former broadcaster based in Regina. She is best known for being the creator of the hit CBC comedy series Little Mosque on the Prairie. She is also the author of the memoir Laughing All the Way to the Mosque, which was shortlisted for the 2015 Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour. Nawaz also wrote the 2022 CBC TV series called Zarqa.
"Books must be humorous, well-written, and show a great degree of style and depth," said Michael Hill, president of the Stephen Leacock Associates in a press release. He said that the three finalists "meet the judging criteria perfectly."
The winner will be announced on Sept. 16 at the Leacock Medal gala dinner, where all three finalists are celebrated. Previous winners will also be in attendance.
Last year's winner was comedian and CBC personality Rick Mercer, for his memoir, Talking to Canadians. Mercer hosts Comedy Night with Rick Mercer on CBC Gem.
Other past winners include Thomas King, Heidi L. M. Jacobs, Robertson Davies, Pierre Berton, Farley Mowat, Paul Quarrington, Mordecai Richler, Stuart McLean, Terry Fallis and Susan Juby.
