Edmonton-raised Heidi Jacobs wins $15K Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour

ORILLIA, Ont. – Heidi Jacobs is this year’s winner of the Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour.

The University of Windsor librarian received the $15,000 honour Friday for her Edmonton-set anti-romance, “Molly of the Mall: Literary Lass and Purveyor of Fine Footwear.”

Published by NeWest Press, the book follows aspiring novelist Molly MacGregor’s unromantic travails as a shoe seller at the West Edmonton Mall.

Born and raised in Edmonton, Jacobs worked a variety of retail jobs, including in footwear, while studying at the University of Alberta.

The runners-up are Amy Spurway for her novel “Crow,” published by Goose Lane Editions, and Drew Hayden Taylor for his play “Cottagers and Indians,” published by Talonbooks. They will each receive $3,000.

Organizers say the honourees will receive their prizes by mail after this year’s festivities were cancelled because of COVID-19 restrictions.

The authors will also be belatedly celebrated at a 2021 gala dinner in Orillia, Ont.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 5, 2020.