Winnipeg-set novel among Leacock finalists

Winnipeg Free Press

24-05-2025

The finalists for the 2025 Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour were announced on May 20, whittled down to a trio of contenders from the 10-book long list in the search for excellence in Canadian literary humour.
The three books remaining in the running for the top prize and the $25,000 purse are Greg Kearney's Winnipeg-set novel An Evening with Birdy O'Day, Patricia J. Parsons' We Came From Away: That Summer on the Rock and Natalie Sue's I Hope This Finds You Well.
The winner will be announced at a gala dinner on June 21 to be held in Orillia, Ont. The winner of the 2024 Leacock Prize was Patrick deWitt for his novel The Librarianist.
The Librarianist
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The Association for Manitoba Archives has released the list of books nominated for its 2024 Manitoba Day Awards, honouring a book which has utilized archives to help contribute to the understanding of the province's history.
The finalists are: Darren Bernhardt for Prairie Oddities: Punkinhead, Peculiar Gravities and other Lesser Known Histories; Patricia Bovey for Western Voices in Canadian Art; John Einarson for Words and Music: The Stories Behind the Books; Gerald Friesen for The Honourable John Norquay: Indigenous Premier, Canadian Statesman; Alison Gillmor, Serena Keshavjee and Susan Algie for Henry Kalen: Photographer; Kimberly Moore and Janis Thiessen for mmm…Manitoba, The Stories Behind the Foods We Eat; Kevin Nikkel for Establishing Shots, An Oral History of the Winnipeg Film Group; Michael Parke-Taylor for Bertram Brooker: When We Awake!; David Pentland with H.C Wolfart and Will Oxford for Proto-Algonquian Dictionary: A Historical and Comparative Dictionary of the Algonquian Language; James Urry for On Stony Ground, Russländer Mennonites and the Rebuilding of Community in Grunthal; and Anton Wagner for The Spiritualist Prime Minister: Vol. I Mackenzie King and the New Revelation; and Vol. II Mackenzie King and His Mediums.
The winners will be announced on at a ceremony on Monday.
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Grab the kids and head to McNally Robinson Booksellers' Grant Park location this afternoon for the launch of an outdoorsy-themed picture book.
Manitoba author Rayna Meakin will read from and discuss her new picture book A Little Camper Love today at 2 p.m. at the bookseller, in which she has penned and illustrated a love letter to vintage camper vans that highlight themes of individuality and positivity.
Meakin will be joined in conversation by early-years education specialist Jennifer Richardson, and the event will feature camper-themed giveaways.
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An engineer and the boss' dreamy son end up at a tropical company retreat in Hawaii, and while issues of workplace favouritism and competitiveness bubble under the surface, so too does something a little… steamier.
Winnipeg author Nisha J. Tuli launches her latest contemporary romance novel Not Safe For Work on Friday at 7 p.m. at McNally Robinson's Grant Park location, where she'll be joined in conversation by romance-fantasy author Briar Boleyn (also known as Fenna Edgewood) and local content creator Kaila Anttila.
Every Second Friday
The latest on food and drink in Winnipeg and beyond from arts writers Ben Sigurdson and Eva Wasney.
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If the teen reader in your life is looking for something a little on the creepy side, Raven's End Books (1859 Portage Ave.) has just the thing in the form of the store's new teen horror book club.
The club's first meeting is on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the store, where the novel Wilder Girls by Rory Power will be discussed. The book's available at the shop; follow @teenhorrorbookclub on Instagram for future picks and events.
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Ben SigurdsonLiterary editor, drinks writer
Ben Sigurdson is the Free Press's literary editor and drinks writer. He graduated with a master of arts degree in English from the University of Manitoba in 2005, the same year he began writing Uncorked, the weekly Free Press drinks column. He joined the Free Press full time in 2013 as a copy editor before being appointed literary editor in 2014. Read more about Ben.
In addition to providing opinions and analysis on wine and drinks, Ben oversees a team of freelance book reviewers and produces content for the arts and life section, all of which is reviewed by the Free Press's editing team before being posted online or published in print. It's part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.
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