Our team is proud to reveal the Canadian creators who won Gold and Silver medals at this year’s National Magazine Awards. The gala was held at the Arcadian Court in Toronto, and was hosted by NMA-winner Omar Mouallem.
View the complete list of nominees and winners here.
MAGAZINE GRAND PRIX
Nouveau Projet took home the prestigious, 2019 Magazine Grand Prix award. A six-time consecutive finalist in this category, Nouveau Projet had also won this coveted title in 2014. The judges cited the magazine’s risk-taking spirit and impressive scope: “Consistently ambitious, Nouveau Projet brings a fresh look and stimulating content to its examination of francophone society. Their team has crafted a great system that allows for clarity and variety, and they masterfully orchestrate all the things that make magazines a pleasure to read.”
BEST MAGAZINE AWARDS
In each of the four Best Magazine Divisions, judges selected one gold winner from the three nominees. The gold winners are:
Best Magazine: News, Business, General Interest
GOLD: Nouveau Projet
HONOURABLE MENTION: The Walrus, Toronto Life
Best Magazine: Special Interest
GOLD: Up Here Magazine
HONOURABLE MENTION: Fete Chinoise, U of T Medicine
Best Magazine: Service & Lifestyle
GOLD: Cottage Life
HONOURABLE MENTION: Elle Canada, FASHION Magazine
Best Magazine: Art, Literary, & Culture
GOLD: Esse arts + opinion
HONOURABLE MENTION: Canadian Art, The Site Magazine
BEST NEW MAGAZINE WRITER
From four talented, promising nominees, Max Binks-Collier was awarded the Best New Magazine Writer title for “Distant Relatives,” published in Maisonneuve. The jury had this to say of Max’s work:
““Distant Relatives” is a suspenseful, in-depth exploration of medical malpractice and the institutional complicity that allowed it to happen. With his thoughtful interviews and extensive historical research, Binks-Collier pulls readers in and keeps them hooked all the way through.”
Honourable Mention went to Jennifer Thornhill Verma (Maisonneuve), Anais Granofsky (Toronto Life), and Mugoli Samba (The United Church Observer).
EDITOR GRAND PRIX
For the second year, the Foundation presented the Editor Grand Prix award to a senior-level editor who demonstrated a high degree of excellence, making an outstanding impact on their magazine. Alison Uncles of Maclean’s was the proud recipient of this year’s award.
PUBLISHER GRAND PRIX
The Publisher Grand Prix award recognizes a publisher whose brand best delivers on their editorial mandate through numerous platforms. From the three nominees—Canadian Geographic, Inuit Art Quarterly, and Toronto Life—Ken Hunt publisher of Toronto Life received gold. In their discussion, the jury put it thusly: if you live in Toronto, you know Toronto Life, and as Toronto is growing, Toronto Life is growing with it.
FOUNDATION AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT
Linda Spalding—an acclaimed writer and a longtime editor of the literary journal Brick—was presented with the 2019 Foundation Award for Outstanding Achievement. At the gala, she was introduced by Laurie D. Graham, who remarked that “Linda provides a model of how to do this publishing work with emotion as well as intellect. She sprouted in Brick the seriousness and irreverence that has come to be the magazine’s guiding ethos.”
Top-winning magazines include:
Magazines winning one Gold Medal include: Air Canada enRoute, BESIDE, esse arts + opinions, LSTW, Prairie Fire, Québec Science, Ryerson University Magazine, Sharp, Taddle Creek, Title Magazine, and Up Here Magazine.
Magazines winning one Silver Medal include: Geist, Report on Business Magazine, The Malahat Review, The Maritime Edit, The Site Magazine, Toronto Life Stylebook, and University of Toronto Magazine.
Highlights of the 42nd annual NMAs
Mathieu Lachapelle of Dînette Magazine captured three awards for his photography work, winning Silver for Portrait Photography and winning both Gold and Silver in Lifestyle Photography.
Anthony Oliveira is a 2019 two-time Gold winner in Long Form Feature Writing and Essay, for his piece “Death in the Village” published in Hazlitt.
The Walrus swept the Illustration (including spot and photo illustration) category: “The End of an Empire” by Sébastien Thibault won silver, while “Bad Code” by Cristian Fowlie took Gold.
Writing & Visual Awards
In the 17 creator-focused categories, Gold winners received a $1000 cash prize. The gold and silver medalists are:
Long-Form Feature Writing
GOLD: Anthony Oliveira, “Death in the Village,” Hazlitt
GOLD: Brett Popplewell, “Final Edition,” The Walrus
Feature Writing
GOLD: Omar Mouallem, “It’s the End of the World as We Know It,” Title Magazine
SILVER: Emily Landau, “I, Tanya,” Toronto Life Stylebook
Short Feature Writing
GOLD: Christopher DiRaddo, “Austin or Bust,” Air Canada enRoute SILVER: Matt Williams, “Jeremy Dutcher’s Gift for His People,” The Maritime Edit
Columns
GOLD: Kamal Al-Solaylee, “Points of Departure,” Sharp
SILVER: Lisa Bird-Wilson, “Clowns, Cakes, Canoes: This is Canada?” Geist
Essays
GOLD: Anthony Oliveira, “Death in the Village,” Hazlitt
SILVER: Larissa Diakiw, “Secrets Are a Captive Country,” Hazlitt
Investigative Reporting
GOLD: Alison Motluk, “Hallway Health Care,” Toronto Life
SILVER: Martin Patriquin, “Warning Signs,” The Walrus
Fiction
GOLD: RJ Edwards, “Loose Time,” Taddle Creek
SILVER: Christine Higdon, “A Prayer for Ursula in Open D,” The Malahat Review
Lifestyle Photography
GOLD: Mathieu Lachapelle, “La brume de l’Oregon,” Dînette magazine
SILVER: Mathieu Lachapelle, “Au cœur des nuages,” Dînette magazine
Personal Journalism
GOLD: Gwen Benaway, “A Body Like a Home,” Hazlitt
SILVER: Meaghan Rondeau, “Half-Thing,” The New Quarterly
Poetry
GOLD: Ben Ladouceur, “The Green Carnation,” Prairie Fire
SILVER: Terence Young, “The Bear,” The New Quarterly
Profiles
GOLD: Katrina Onstad, “Mr. Robot,” Toronto Life
SILVER: Malcolm Johnston, “Born to Run,” Toronto Life
Service Journalism
GOLD: Mélissa Guillemette, “Où vont les déchets électroniques ?,” Québec Science
SILVER: Mark Pupo, “Where to Eat 2018,” Toronto Life
Illustration (including Spot & Photo Illustration)
GOLD: Cristian Fowlie, “Bad Code,” The Walrus
SILVER: Sébastien Thibault, “The End of an Empire,” The Walrus
Portrait Photography
GOLD: Grant Harder, “Tremors,” Maisonneuve
SILVER: Mathieu Lachapelle, “Dompter le roc,” Dînette magazine
Photo Essay & Photojournalism
GOLD: Kamil Bialous, “That Which Does Not Burn,” Cottage Life SILVER: Stephen J. Thorne, “Citizens of War,” Legion Magazine
One of a Kind Storytelling
GOLD: Michael Friscolanti, Jason Markusoff, and Kyle Edwards, “ ‘It was the last time we saw him:’ An oral history of the Humboldt Broncos bus crash,” Maclean’s
SILVER: Martin Patenaude-Monette (Martin PM), “Le bonheur en transition,” Nouveau Projet
Editorial Awards
Art Direction of a Single Article
GOLD: Studio Wyse, “Keeping Memories Alive,” Ryerson University Magazine
SILVER: Carey van der Zalm,“Body, Space & Object,” The Site Magazine
Best Editorial Package
GOLD: “WWI Commemorative Issue,” Maclean’s
SILVER: “Autumn 2018: The Cities We Need,” University of Toronto Magazine
Art Direction Grand Prix
GOLD: Eliane Cadieux, “Issue 05: What does our future with nature hold? | Numéro 05 : Quel avenir sommes-nous en train de bâtir ?” BESIDE
SILVER: Jean-François Proulx, Balistique, “Nouveau Projet 13,” Nouveau Projet
Editor Grand Prix
GOLD: Alison Uncles, Maclean’s
Cover Grand Prix
GOLD: “Pay equity,” Maclean’s
SILVER: “Blood in the Air,” Report on Business
Issue Grand Prix
GOLD: lstw issue #3, lstw
SILVER: Nouveau Projet 14, Nouveau Projet
Publisher Grand Prix
GOLD: Ken Hunt, Toronto Life
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, RedPoint Media & Marketing Solutions, TC Transcontinental Printing, The Arcadian Court, University of Alberta, Very Good Studios, and Vividata.
We also owe a huge thank you to this year’s judges, who volunteered their time and expertise, evaluating the hundreds of entries submitted to this year’s competition.
Congratulations to all of the winners of the 42nd annual National Magazine awards! Follow us on Twitter and visit our Facebook page for updates on next year’s call for entries.
Download the complete list of 2019 nominees and winners here.
