The National Media Awards Foundation (NMAF) is delighted to unveil the finalists for the 42nd Annual National Magazine Awards! The annual gala, held on May 31, 2019, will be hosted by author, filmmaker, and two-time NMA winner Omar Mouallem.
NOMINATIONS LIST (PDF)
GALA INFO & TICKETS
PRESS RELEASE
VERSION FRANÇAISE
For this year’s competition, 187 Canadian magazines from coast to coast to coast—English and French, print and digital—submitted the work of more than 2,000 writers, editors, photographers, illustrators, art directors, and other creators. The NMAF’s 125 volunteer judges have selected a total of 201 submissions from 70 different Canadian publications for awards in 28 written, visual, editorial, and best magazine categories.
BEST MAGAZINE AWARDS
Three publications have been shortlisted in each of the four Best Magazine divisions. The outstanding nominees are:
Best Magazine: News, Business, General Interest
Best Magazine: Service & Lifestyle
Best Magazine: Art, Literary & Culture
Best Magazine: Special Interest
MAGAZINE GRAND PRIXThe Magazine Grand Prix award—the highest honour bestowed to a publication—will be presented to one publication among the four winners of the Best Magazine awards, revealed at the gala on May 31st.
BEST NEW MAGAZINE WRITER
The jury selected four nominees for Best New Magazine Writer. This award is given to the individual whose early work in magazines shows the highest degree of craft and promise. This year’s emerging writers are:
Jennifer Thornhill Verma for “Letters From Pop,” published in Maisonneuve
Max Binks-Collier for “Distant Relatives,” published in Maisonneuve
Mugoli Samba for “Wilbur Howard and the White Church,” published in the United Church Observer
Anais Granofsky for “Between Two Worlds,” published in Toronto Life
EDITOR GRAND PRIX
The three editors shortlisted for the prestigious Editor Grand Prix title are Aaron Kylie (Canadian Geographic), Alison Uncles (Maclean’s), and, for the second year, Nicolas Langelier (Nouveau Projet).
PUBLISHER GRAND PRIX
New this year, this award honours the publisher whose brand best delivers on their editorial mandate through numerous platforms. The finalists are Gilles Gagnier (Canadian Geographic), Alysa Procida (Inuit Art Quarterly), and Ken Hunt (Toronto Life).
ISSUE GRAND PRIX
Also new to the 2019 lineup, the Issue Grand Prix award honours quality and originality of the content of an entire issue as well as its relevance to the intended readers. The magazine finalists are:
Alberta Views, BESIDE, Canadian Art, Inuit Art Quarterly, LSTW, Nouveau Projet, The Walrus, The Site Magazine, Prairie Fire & Contemporary Verse 2, and University of Toronto Magazine.
NOMINATION HIGHLIGHTS
· Photographer Mathieu Lachapelle of Dînette Magazine is a four-time nominee across three visual categories: Lifestyle Photography, Portrait Photography, and Photo Essay & Photojournalism.
· Writer Anthony Oliveira garnered three nominations in as many categories for his story “Death in the Village” published in Hazlitt.
· L’actualité’s Amélie Chamberland (art director) and Charles Grandmont (editor) received three nominations in the editorial category Cover Grand Prix.
· The jury shortlisted two of Edmonton-based photographer Amber Bracken’s photographs for Portrait Photography: “Nishnawbe-Aski Police Service,” featured in Maclean’s magazine, and “Life After Coal,” published in The Narwhal.
· Best New Magazine Writer nominee Anais Granofsky is also a finalist in the category of Long-Form Feature Writing for her piece “Between Two Worlds” published in Toronto Life.
· Vancouver-based writer Bruce Grierson earned two nominations, first for an essay published in Eighteen Bridges (“Have You Heard?”) and second for a long-form story featured in Hakai Magazine (“The Cavernous World under the Woods”).
· Emily Landau is nominated for two articles published in Toronto Life (“The Greatest Showman”) and Toronto Life Stylebook (“I, Tanya”) in addition to being credited as the handling editor for four other stories.
· Also a double nominee this year is writer Simon Lewsen, for his profile “The Freeland World”
penned for The Walrus, and short feature article “A New Leaf,” published in BESIDE.
· L’actualité’s journalist Noémi Mercier is once again a finalist this year for Columns (“Des gars, des filles”) and Long-Form Feature Writing (“Mourir seul”).
· Maritime-based writer Chelsea Murray is finalist for Personal Journalism (“The Agony of Intimacy,” published in Hazlitt) as well as for Long-Form Feature Writing (“Joe and the Whale,” published in The Deep).
· Quebec journalist Sabrina Myre garnered two nominations for articles published in ELLE Québec magazine: Feature Writing (“Le grand sacrifice des nounous philippines”) and Short Feature Writing (“Révolution féministe en Éthiopie, l’intrigant cas d’Awra Amba”).
· Writer Katrina Onstad is nominated for two stories: in Essays for “Class Divide”, published in The Walrus, as well as in Profiles, for “Mr. Robot”, written for Toronto Life.
TOP NOMINATED MAGAZINES
Among the 70 publications shortlisted, Toronto Life leads with 19 nominations. The Walrus follows with 13 nominations, while L’actualité, Maclean’s, and Nouveau Projet share the third place with 9 nominations each. Other top nominated titles include:
| MAGAZINE | NOMINATIONS |
| Toronto Life | 19 |
| The Walrus | 13 |
| L’actualité | 9 |
| Maclean’s | 9 |
| Nouveau Projet | 9 |
| Hazlitt | 8 |
| Report on Business | 7 |
| Maisonneuve | 6 |
| Canadian Geographic | 5 |
| Cottage Life | 5 |
| Dînette Magazine | 5 |
| FASHION Magazine | 5 |
| The Fiddlehead | 5 |
| The New Quarterly | 5 |
| The Site Magazine | 5 |
Publications with 4 nominations each: The Narwhal, University of Toronto Magazine
Publications with 3 nominations each: BESIDE, Canadian Art, ELLE Québec, The Deep, Today’s Parent, Reader’s Digest
Publications with 2 nominations each: Air Canada enRoute, Arc Poetry, Alberta Views, BuzzFeed Canada, Chatelaine, Eighteen Bridges, Geist, Hakai Magazine, Inuit Art Quarterly, Prairie Fire, Prairie Fire & Contemporary Verse, Québec Science, U of T Medicine
EDITORIAL AWARDS
Best Editorial Package
Cover Grand Prix
Art Direction of a Single Article
Art Direction Grand Prix
WRITING & VISUAL AWARDS
Photojournalism & Photo Essay
Portrait Photography
Lifestyle Photography
Illustration
Long-Form Feature Writing
Feature Writing
Profiles
Personal Journalism
Service Journalism
Short Feature Writing
Fiction
Poetry
Investigative Reporting
Columns
Essays
One of a Kind Storytelling
FIRST-TIME NOMINEES
Magazines nominated for their first National Magazine Award are: Canadian Cycling, Fête Chinoise, Le Trente, The Maritime Edit, The Narwhal, and Title Magazine.
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT
On April 30, the NMAF was delighted to name Linda Spalding, an acclaimed Canadian writer and a longtime editor of Brick magazine, the recipient of the 2019 Foundation Award for Outstanding Achievement, recognizing her career excellence and leadership in Canadian magazines.
Congratulations to the nominees of the 42nd National Magazine Awards!
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The NMAF gratefully acknowledges the support of the Government of Canada, the Ontario Arts Council, Ontario Creates, Reader’s Digest Foundation, and KCK Global. We are also thankful for the support of CCR Solutions, Cision, Magazines Canada, PUSH Media, TC Transcontinental Printing, The Arcadian Court, University of Alberta, Very Good Studios, and Vividata.
ABOUT THE 42nd NMAs
The National Media Awards Foundation will welcome Canada’s top writers, artists, editors, art directors, publishers, and other creators to the 42nd National Magazine Awards gala, hosted by Omar Mouallem. Gold, Silver, and Honourable Mention awards will be presented at the Arcadian Court in Toronto on May 31, at the annual gala. Tickets are on sale at magazine-awards.com.
For sponsorship inquiries please contact NMAF Managing Director Barbara Gould at staff@magazine-awards.com.
Credit Changes: The deadline to make any changes to nominations credit is Monday, May 6. Email staff@magazine-awards.com to make any credit changes to your nominations.
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