2026 Leacock Medal: Final Thoughts

The winner of this year’s Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour will be announced on Saturday, June 20, and I’m super excited for it. All three of these books are FANTASTIC.

If you’re not familiar with the Leacock Medal, here’s their website. Basically, it’s a long-standing Canadian literary award for books and authors that continue the tradition of beloved Canadian humourist Stephen Leacock by making Canadians laugh. The three books on this year’s shortlist are: She’s a Lamb! by Meredith Hambrock, Colin Gets Promoted and Dooms the World by Mark Waddell, and Snap by Susin Nielsen. Let’s talk about them!

She’s a Lamb!

She’s a Lamb! was one of my top favourite reads of 2025. I immediately declared it a satirical masterpiece, and I knew it was award-worthy, even though Meredith Hambrock was one of the many Canadian authors who decided to boycott the Giller prize (Canada’s most prestigious literary award, which has seen a lot of controversy over the past few years).

This is the story of Jessamyn St. Germain, a Canadian theatre actress who is sick of not being a star. At 26, she knows time is running out to get her big break, so she convinces herself that the role of Maria in a local production of The Sound of Music is going to be hers. The only problem is, the people running the show have other ideas. Unfortunately for them, “I would kill for that part” might not just be a figure of speech for Jessamyn.

Hambrock is absolutely brilliant at showing us the world through the eyes of a person with delusions of grandeur. Right from the start, the reader can tell that Jess is not the great talent she keeps telling us she is, and pretty soon we come to understand that she’s been lying to herself about every aspect of her life. She’s a talentless narcissist and a terrible human being, but she’s also pitiable. Above all, she’s a hilarious caricature of the kind of person who will do anything to be famous.

Colin Gets Promoted and Dooms the World

Colin Gets Promoted and Dooms the World is absolutely DELIGHTFUL. Which is a strange thing to say about a book that’s full of so much casual violence and horror… but it’s okay because it’s played for laughs! Wait, that sounds bad.

This is the story of Colin, a low-level employee at a Hell-like corporation called Dark Enterprises. When I say “Hell-like,” I mean there’s a floor for human sacrifices to greedy gods, there are portals you can accidentally fall into and end up in semi-eternal torment, and DON’T EVER USE THE STAIRS, trust me. There’s a monster on the prowl, and you’ll never be seen again. Anyway, one day Colin meets an Entity in the elevator, and it offers him his heart’s desire. What Colin desires most is power – to no longer be the sufferer but the one inflicting the suffering. The Entity grants his wish, and Colin finds himself promoted to the most powerful level of the corporation. But in granting his wish, the Entity is set loose on the world, and it’s really really hungry.

Sounds like a great setup to a supernatural horror, right? But somehow Waddell makes all of this laugh-out-loud HILARIOUS. Colin is kind of a horrible person, but he’s also sweet and relatable. You can’t help but root for him to triumph over his tormentors and to save the world from the danger he unleashed. All of the characters are really fun to hang out with, from his comically horrible colleagues and bosses to his oblivious flatmate, quirky frenemy, and mysterious new boyfriend. I loved every minute of this ride, and I’m excited to see what else Waddell does with this world he’s created.

Snap

Snap is probably my least favourite of the three finalists, but only by a narrow margin. It’s straight-up humour rather than satire, so if you’re looking for more of a real-world, relatable story that just makes you laugh, this is the one for you.

This is the story of Frances, a middle-aged children’s author in the middle of a divorce; Parker, a young wardrobe assistant on a Vancouver-filmed TV show who has caught the eye of its famous star; and Geraint, a devoted husband and father who has just found out his wife is having an affair with his boss. All three of these people are about to reach their breaking point and do something they’ll regret. All three of them will find themselves in court-mandated anger management classes and community service. And all three of them have a story that will break your heart and make you laugh in equal measure.

The characters in this book are beautifully written, and I fell in love with each and every one of them. I actually laughed out loud more while reading this book than any of the others, because the situations they find themselves in are so relatable. Their breaking points are so realistic that you have to laugh at yourself for knowing you’d probably snap, too. Above all, though, Nielsen has a knack for knowing the perfect moment to insert a joke to lighten an otherwise tense moment.

This is also the most unflinchingly CANADIAN book on the shortlist. Nielsen seizes every opportunity to insert a Canadian-specific cultural reference (i.e. ketchup chips, Timbits, etc), and she doesn’t water down the Canadian Criminal Code or our justice system for an international audience like you often see. I found that refreshing.

Overall Thoughts

I absolutely loved reading through the Leacock Medal shortlist. I think this will become an annual thing for me. If there’s one thing Canadians are remarkably good at, it’s finding humour in anything and everything, and I love that we have a prestigious literary award keeping that alive in our literature!

Selfishly, I want She’s a Lamb! to win. I wanted it to win ALL the awards. But honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised with any of these books winning. They’re all masterpieces in their own ways. I can’t wait to find out what the judges will decide!