Surrey-based author Christina Myers is among “long list” nominees for the 2022 Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour.
Myers’ debut book of fiction, “The List of Last Chances” (Caitlin Press), offers a story about reluctant travel companions.
The novel is among 10 finalists for the Leacock award, which for 75 years has recognized excellence in Canadian literary humour.
Past winners have included Terry Fallis, Will Ferguson, W.O. Mitchell, Stuart McLean and Mordecai Richler, according to a June 1 post on leacock.ca.
It's been three hours and I've re-read the list ten times to make sure I'm not imagining it or mixing it up. To be named among these writers, for this prize … I don't have words. Thank you to the jury @leacockmedal ❤️ https://t.co/w2M7Xo4Fj9
— Christina Myers (@ChristinaMyersA) June 1, 2022
The nine other 2022 Leacock Award finalists are Emily Austin, Mark Critch, Dawn Dumont, Lorne Eedy, James Gordon, Uzma Jalaluddin, Ron James, Rick Mercer, K.R. Wilson.
Myers reacted to the announcement on Twitter.
”It’s been three hours and I’ve re-read the list ten times to make sure I’m not imagining it or mixing it up,” Myers posted. “To be named among these writers, for this prize … I don’t have words. Thank you to the jury.”
Three finalists for the 2022 award will be named Aug. 15, with the medal winner to follow Sept. 17 at a gala dinner.
Myers’ “The List of Last Chances” details a PEI-to-Vancouver road trip involving a single unemployed woman named Ruthie and an aging mother, Kay — two reluctant travel companions connected only by an ad for driving services placed by Kay’s son, David.
“Ruthie thinks it’s the perfect chance for a brief escape and a much-needed boost for her empty bank account,” noted a book-launch media release in 2021. “But once they’re on the road, Kay reveals that she’s got a list of stops along the way that’s equal parts sightseeing tour, sexual bucket-list, and trip down memory lane.”
The book explores the topic of older women and sexuality in a lighthearted way, and makes for a fun summer read.
A former journalist, Myers is a freelance writer and editor, and “a lifelong book nerd.” She is the editor of “BIG: Stories About Life in Plus-Sized Bodies” (Caitlin Press, 2020) and her writing has appeared in anthologies, newspapers, magazines and online. In 2016, she contributed a story to the book “Boobs: Women Explore What it Means to Have Breasts.”
tom.zillich@surreynowleader.com
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