Calgary author Natalie Sue wins Leacock Medal for Humour for novel ‘I Hope This Finds You Well’

Natalie Sue, as shown in this handout photo, is the winner of the Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour for "I Hope This Finds You Well." THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout - HarperCollins/Leacock Memorial Medal (Mandatory Credit)

Natalie Sue’s debut novel “I Hope This Finds You Well” has won this year’s Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour.

The $25,000 award is given to the best Canadian book of literary humour published in the previous year.

The novel follows the story of an office worker in her early thirties who one day stumbles upon all of her colleagues’ private emails and decides to use their gossip to help save her job.

“I Hope This Finds You Well” was published by HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.

Sue is a Calgary-based author of Iranian and British descent who spent her early years living in western Canada.

Runners-up, who received $5,000 each, were Greg Kearney for “An Evening With Birdy O’Day,” about an aging hairstylist who lost connection with his childhood best friend when he left to pursue a pop music career, and Patricia J. Parsons for “We Came From Away: That Summer on the Rock,” which follows one woman’s attempt to reconnect her family with Newfoundland.

--David Friend

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 21, 2025.