And the Winners are...
Despite a year of magazine closings, restructuring and layoffs, the
Canadian magazine industry had much to celebrate at the 33rd National Magazine Awards, held at the Carlu in
Toronto. More than 750 guests attended the gala as The National Magazine Awards Foundation (NMAF) handed out
Gold, Silver and Honourable Mention awards in 46 categories, out of a field of 390 nominations from 84
magazines from across the country. Debuting this year were six online categories, including Website of the
Year and Best Visual Design.
See the full list of this year's winners and credits [PDF]
See all the nomination work [Web]
See photos from the Awards gala reception [HERE]
See photos of the Awards presentation [HERE]
Up Here, with “up here” referring to its home
base of Yellowknife, won the coveted Magazine of the Year award, given to the magazine that
most consistently engages, surprises and serves the needs of its readers. A four-member jury selected three
finalists—the other two were Maisonneuve and Report on Business—for this prestigious
award.
About the winning magazine, the judges noted: “Solid and
accomplished, Up Here has real personality and shows a strong editorial hand. The degree of
difficulty in finding the human and other resources to publish, print and distribute from the north only adds
to the measure of the accomplishment here. It is distinctive, fresh and unpredictable with engaging and
accessible content that crosses both disciplinary and geographical boundaries. Its commitment and passion are
very evident—and contagious.”
Several firsts occurred this year, as the NMAF kicked-off
the evening with a VIP ceremony, during which its inaugural online awards were presented. The first-ever
Website of the Year award—given to the website that most successfully fulfills its editorial
mission, effectively serves its audience, maximizes use of the web and represents the highest journalistic
standards—went to DogsinCanada.com. Other highlights included a tie in the Best Visual
Design category, with the Quebec-based French websites lametropole.com and Urbania.ca both winning
Gold.
See photos of the Web Awards presentation [HERE]
Coming in with the most nominations at 33, The
Walrus also left with the most awards, winning 9 Gold and 3 Silver. Toronto Life followed with
4 Gold and 3 Silver, while explore did equally well in both the Gold and Silver counts, earning 3
each. B.C.’s Malahat Review, meanwhile, swept the Poetry category, taking both the Gold and Silver
awards. Below is a list of the top winners at the 33rd annual National Magazine Awards:
|
Magazine
|
Gold
|
Silver
|
HM
|
Total
|
|
The Walrus
|
9
|
3
|
21
|
33
|
|
Toronto Life
|
4
|
3
|
19
|
26
|
|
explore
|
3
|
3
|
13
|
19
|
|
Report on Business
|
2
|
3
|
16
|
21
|
|
Swerve
|
2
|
3
|
8
|
13
|
|
Canadian Geographic
|
2
|
1
|
5
|
8
|
|
L’actualité
|
1
|
3
|
16
|
20
|
|
enRoute
|
1
|
1
|
8
|
10
|
|
Maisonneuve
|
1
|
1
|
8
|
10
|
|
Cottage Life
|
1
|
1
|
7
|
9
|
|
Canadian Business
|
1
|
0
|
8
|
9
|
|
Maclean’s
|
0
|
1
|
26
|
27
|
Individual magazine awards included best Magazine
Cover, with this year’s Gold going to Report on Business (Dominic Macri, art director) and
Silver to Prefix Photo (Underline Studio). The Gold for Best Single Issue was
awarded to The Walrus (October 2009; John Macfarlane, editor; Brian Morgan, art director), while
Toronto Life (February 2009; Sarah Fulford, editor; Jessica Rose, art director) received the
Silver.
Taking top honours in the special categories were
Danielle Groen, named Best New Magazine Writer for her article “This Is Your Brain on Love”
in Chatelaine, and Byron Eggenschwiler, named Best New Visual Creator, for his
illustration of “Tales from Riverheights Terrace,” which appeared in Swerve magazine.
Outstanding Achievement
The NMAF’s most prestigious individual prize since its inception in 1990 is The Foundation Award for
Outstanding Achievement. The NMAF is honoured to name Terry Sellwood as the recipient for
his exceptional contributions to the Canadian magazine community. Currently the chair of Magazines Canada and
the general manager of Quarto Communications (publisher of Cottage Life, explore, Outdoor Canada
and Canadian Home Workshop), Terry has worked with—or for—most of Canada’s major publishing
companies. “No conversation about magazine publishing and its future is complete without Terry’s name
arising,” noted Al Zikovitz president of Quarto Communications, in his letter of
support. Read more about Terry Sellwood and the
Outstanding Achievement Award
Award-Winning Creators Profiles
Attention Winners: The NMAF announced a new initiative to help promote and celebrate the achievements of
award winners: The Award-winning Creators
Profile – a new opportunity for winners to promote their work by creating profiles of themselves on
the NMA online winners archive. All past award winners and finalists are invited to create an online
profile which may include a bio, contact information, photograph and links to your work and professional
websites. Anywhere your name appears in our Awards Archive
it will link directly to your unique profile.
