Another UCC winner in Leacock humour contest |
06/12/2026
College legend Stephen Leacock from the Class of 1887 would be proud to see UCC students including Jerry Pang ’27 keeping his literary tradition alive.
The Stephen Leacock Associates foundation named Pang third-place finalist in the 2026 Student Humorous Short Story Competition for his piece “A Case of Gastronomic Malpractice.” Pang was among 51 entrants in the contest. He follows Cyrus Sarfaty ’25, who had the same showing in 2023 for his piece “Adventures on the DraftKings™ Trans-Canada Highway.”
“I was surprised, for sure,” Pang recalls about hearing the news. “It was pretty exciting.”
Leacock, world-renowned humorist and author of Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town (1912), taught French at UCC from 1889 to 1899, after having graduated from the College as head boy. The foundation preserves his legacy, and awards the annual Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour.
Pang’s 2,200-word piece is structured as a court transcript. Our unfortunate protagonist, Anthony Rattle, is being tried on charges of “destruction of property, arson, and ‘culinary negligence.’” He was only trying to make a special dinner for his hard-working girlfriend, but things went awry when he began interfacing with an app called Cookpal.
Pang says the story was actually inspired by his three years as a UCC boarder.
“Every year, someone has caused the fire alarm to go off by using the microwave badly,” recounts Pang, who has wrapped up his exams and is back home in Ottawa for the summer. “I created a story combining cooking without any experience and our reliance on AI.”
As a transcript, the story is in the style of a theatre, film or TV script, rather than prose.
“I take Higher Level Theatre, and most of my co-curricular arts work is in theatre,” Pang explains. “Being on stage, you have the exchange of ideas between characters without any descriptive framing. It just lets the story happen, and as an actor myself, I find that an interesting way of storytelling, which is why I wrote the story like that.”
He will receive $750 in prize money at the Meet the Authors and Student Showcase June 19 in Orillia — where Leacock had his summer home — at which time he and his fellow finalists will read their work. The finalists for the Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour will also be speaking.
Pang wrote “A Case of Gastronomic Malpractice” on his own time, and intends to continue his authorial pursuits.
“I would love to explore more playwriting,” he says. “My goal is to write a musical, which appeals to me as an actor and musician. I see this story as a stepping stone to build up to that.”
He draws inspiration from previous prize-winner Sarfaty, who is currently studying at Harvard. “He ended up writing his own musical [MOE: A Rap Opera], which he put up at the Fringe Festival a couple of years ago,” Pang explains. “I see what I’m doing as similar to what he’s doing, and that’s pretty cool.”
