Quill and Quire

Awards

« Back to Omni
Articles

Jennifer Craig wins Leacock Medal for Gone to Pot

Jennifer Craig’s novel Gone to Pot has won the 2018 Memorial Medal for Humour.

Nelson, B.C.–based author Jennifer Craig has won the $15,000 Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour for Gone to Pot (Second Story Press). The novel is about a grandmother who, in a moment of financial desperation, opens a marijuana grow-op in her basement.

Though Craig travelled to Orillia, Ont., for the gala awards ceremony, illness prevented her from attending. Her daughter Juliet accepted on her behalf.

The award honours the best in Canadian humour writing. The other finalists were New York–based Laurie Gelman for her debut novel, Class Mom (Henry Holt & Co), and Scaachi Koul for her essay collection, One Day We’ll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter (Doubleday Canada). Each finalist will receive $1,500.

In a tweet, Koul congratulated Craig on her victory, writing, “I lost!! But the formidable Jennifer Craig won!!!!!!!!!!!! Never forget that men are not funny, but Jennifer is.” This was the first time since the Leacock Medal was first presented in 1947 that the three shortlisted writers were all female.