What is this award?
The Christopher Hitchens Award for Humour Writing is a NEW annual award for the best piece of satire or humour writing by a Canadian woman or non-binary writer. The award was created by Sophie Kohn, in partnership with The Second City Toronto.
GREAT! Why is it called that?
Christopher Hitchens famously used his precious time on this earth to try to convince everyone that women are inherently not funny. In 2007, he wrote an entire Vanity Fair essay about it. Then everyone flipped out and told him he was a tool. Did he listen? Nah. In 2008, he doubled down and wrote a whole second Vanity Fair essay about how women being upset that they’re not funny is somehow proof of their unfunnyness. Give it up for this guy! He died in 2011.
Why is this happening?
Despite producing an astonishing number of hilarious individuals, Canada has a notable lack of opportunities for those individuals to be recognized, celebrated, and compensated for their genius. This sucks?
More specifically:
There are several awards for serious writing, but nothing for funny writing. Okay, there’s one award for funny writing – The Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour – but it’s for entire books, which makes the award pretty intimidating as well as inaccessible to emerging writers who perhaps don’t yet have an agent or the skill or financial privilege to go write an entire-ass book. There are also some programs and incubator workshops and awards for comedy on TV and comedy on the stage. But there is nothing for written comedy meant to be experienced on the page. There’s also just a general lack of places for Canadian satire writers to put their writing, especially when compared to our American neighbours. We have the excellence of The Beaverton and The Walking Eagle News...but that's kind of...it?
Why is this only for women and non-binary folks?
Like all other industries except for invisible labour, comedy in general and satire writing specifically has been historically dominated by men. This has created two problems:
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We don’t hear from lot of women and non-binary people;
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We don’t see issues that affect women and non-binary folks satirized, because men probably aren’t going to write about them (and shouldn't).
This award seeks to encourage women and non-binary folks to speak up, build some name recognition and momentum in their career, and get compensated for their work.
What is the PRIZE?
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The winner will receive a $1,000 cash prize and a free writing class at The Second City.
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The winner will be also invited to attend an awards ceremony at The Second City in Toronto in November 2024, with the option to participate virtually for those unable to attend in person for whatever reason.
