亚洲天堂 Lake author Michael Riis-Christianson鈥檚 coming-of-age memoir book 鈥業 Heard the Turkki Call My Name鈥� is about growing up at Ootsa Lake in the 1970s, has been nominated for the Leacock Medal for Humour.
The medal, named in honour of celebrated Canadian humourist Stephen Leacock, is awarded annually by Stephen Leacock Associates for the best Canadian book of literary humour published in the previous year. The national award, which includes a cash prize of $25,000, has an international reputation and is the only one that recognizes Canadian humour writing.
This list of previous winners reads like a Who鈥檚 Who of Canadian literature. Iconic Canadian writers like Robertson Davies, Pierre Berton, Farley Mowatt, and Stuart McLean have all won the award at least once. Wayne Johnston won it in 2023 for his memoir Jennie鈥檚 Boy, published by Alfred A. Knopf, Canada.
Riis-Christianson self-published I Heard the Turkki Call My Name earlier this year. He began writing it during his first bout with clinical depression almost four decades ago. Half of the book鈥檚 25 short stories were written over eight months in 1988; the remainder were completed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The experience, he said, was cathartic.
鈥淚 started writing the book because I wanted to understand who I was and why I felt the way I did,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 also wanted to make myself laugh during a dark time. I succeeded, and committing these stories to paper gave me a new perspective on my childhood.鈥�
Reader and reviewer response to I Heard the Turkki Call My Name has been overwhelmingly positive. An editor who read the manuscript last fall described it as 鈥渟imply beautiful鈥� and 鈥渦proariously funny,鈥� adding that 鈥淚 know I鈥檝e read something good when it stays with me.鈥�
Journalist Frank Peebles, who grew up in the Lakes District, was also generous with his praise.
鈥淗e [Riis-Christianson] makes us fall in love with people we鈥檝e never met, pine for a place we鈥檝e probably never been, and see the themes and dramas in our lives so much brighter,鈥� Peebles wrote in a recent review. 鈥淗e tells us, without saying anything of the sort, that we are all interesting people who have lived interesting lives. 鈥� Most of us don鈥檛 have the gifts of recall or storytelling that Riis-Christianson possesses, so thank the bright stars of Ootsa Lake that someone with those sharpened skills has put in the work to give us ourselves, even if we鈥檝e never been there or done that.鈥�
Ironically, Riis-Christianson almost shelved the manuscript before his wife, Sashka Macievich, convinced him to send it for an editorial evaluation.
鈥淚 had looked at the book for so long that I was convinced it had no redeeming features,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 thought, 鈥榥o one鈥檚 going to want to read this nonsense, and they might not even find it funny.鈥� I鈥檓 glad I didn鈥檛 listen to my inner critic.鈥�
Riis-Christianson is pleased the book has been so well received.
鈥淚t鈥檚 an honour to be considered for the Leacock,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 grew up reading Eric Nichol, Farley Mowatt, and many other authors who have won this prestigious award in the past 76 years. Never in my wildest dreams did I think something I wrote would be considered worthy of consideration.鈥�
It will be some time before Riis-Christianson learns what the award鈥檚 judges think of I Heard the Turkki Call My Name. This year鈥檚 long list will be announced at the end of April 2024, and the winner won鈥檛 be disclosed until later next year.
Riis-Christianson is an award-winning journalist whose work has appeared in the Vancouver Sun, Lakes District 亚洲天堂, Gulf Islands Driftwood, and several pieces of unaddressed admail. His first book, History Matters, was published in 2022 and is currently in its second printing. It was nominated for the BC Historical Federation鈥檚 historical writing award.
I Heard the Turkki Call My Name, published by FriesenPress, is available online, in local bookstores, and at the Lakes District 亚洲天堂, the Lakes District Museum and the 亚洲天堂 Lake Public Library in 亚洲天堂 Lake.
For more information on the Leacock Medal, visit Stephen Leacock Associates.
