Natalie Sue (HarperCollins/Leacock Memorial Medal)

Calgary author Natalie Sue has won the 2025 Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour.

Sue was named the winner of the $25,000 prize for her debut novel, I Hope This Finds You Well (HarperCollins) at a gala in Orillia, Ontario, on June 21.

Sue’s debut novel is a bestselling office comedy in which admin worker Jolene Smith accidentally gains access to her colleagues’ private emails and direct messages and uses this newfound secret knowledge to try to save her own job.

Sue was one of three finalists announced last month, and was joined on the shortlist by Greg Kearney for An Evening with Birdy O’Day (Arsenal Pulp Press) — a novel about an aging hairstylist’s childhood friendship with a pop music prodigy — and Patricia Parsons for We Came From Away (Moonlight Press) — a book that tells the story of a Newfoundland grandmother who calls her children and grandchildren back home for a cross-island tour before her 100th birthday party. The runners up each receive $5,000.

The finalists were chosen from a 10-book longlist announced in April. A Canada-wide panel chose the 10 longlisted books from 67 submitted titles.

The annual award, now in its 78th year, recognizes excellence in Canadian literary humour. Previous winners include Terry Fallis, Will Ferguson, W.O.Mitchell, Stuart McLean, and Mordecai Richler, and last year’s winner, Patrick deWitt.