Tag: Essays

Archives, J.B. MacKinnon, NMA Winners, Off the Page

Off the Page, with J.B. MacKinnon

Off the Page appears regularly on the Magazine Awards blog. Today we catch up with writer J.B. MacKinnon, winner of 11 National Magazine Awards and author of The Once and Future World (Random House Canada).

NMAF: In an essay titled “A 10 Percent World” (The Walrus, September 2010), you argued that humanity’s vision of an idyllic past is myopic; that in seeking to temper the impact that we have on our environment, our purpose “is not to demand some return to a pre-human Eden, but rather to expand our options”; that “our sense of what is possible sets limits on our dreams.” What did you mean by expanding our options beyond the limits?

J.B.: “A 10 Percent World” looks at the natural world of the historical past—a much richer and more abundant state of nature than we know today. We’ve largely forgotten this more plentiful world, and that limits our sense of the possible.

Yes, it’s depressing to find out that grizzly bears used to live on the Canadian Prairies and they don’t any more, or that Vancouver waters were home to a year-round population of humpback whales that were all slaughtered by 1908. But if we aren’t aware of these facts, then the absence of the bears and the whales seems normal. When we do become aware of them, we’re able to set a higher bar for our vision of what nature can be.  Continue reading “Off the Page, with J.B. MacKinnon” →

Contests, Creator Resources, Guide to Canadian Literary Magazines, Magazine Industry, Writer Resources

A Writer’s Guide to Canadian Literary Magazines & Journals

They publish much of Canada’s best poetry and prose. The writers whose creative work appears in their pages range from established icons of Canadian literary arts–such as Alice Munro, Margaret Atwood and Lynn Coady, to name just a few–to new writers published for the first time.

They are Canada’s literary magazines, and they are not only a source of reading pleasure, but also a critical part of our country’s culture and a forum for literary artists across the land.

The following list, an A-to-Z guide to Canadian literary periodicals and their submissions guidelines, compiled by the National Media Awards Foundation, focuses on those magazines that currently publish short fiction, poetry and/or creative (aka literary) non-fiction. Many also accept submissions for essays, literary criticism, reviews, interviews, graphic narratives and visual art. And many have won National Magazine Awards. If we missed any, tell us via Twitter @MagAwards or contact us by email.

Acta Victoriana
Published in: Ontario (Victoria University, Toronto)
Founded: 1878
Genres: Fiction, Poetry, Visual Arts
Issues per Year: 4
National Magazine Award Nominations: None
Submissions Guidelines

Antigonish Review, The
Published in: Nova Scotia (St. Francis Xavier University)
Founded: 1970
Genres: Fiction, Poetry, Essays, Articles, Reviews
Issues per Year: 4
National Magazine Award Nominations: 1
Submissions Guidelines

Arc Poetry Magazine
Published in: Ontario (Ottawa)
Founded: 1978
Genres: Poetry, Reviews, Essays
Issues per Year: 3
National Magazine Awards: 5 (most recently: Louise Halfe, Silver Medal, Poetry, 2015)
NMA Nominations: 23
Submission Guidelines

Artery, The
Published in: Ontario (Lakehead University)
Founded: 2008
Genres: Poetry, Fiction, Plays
Issues per Year: 1-2
National Magazine Awards: None
Submission Guidelines

Ascent Aspirations
Published in: British Columbia (Vancouver)
Founded: 1997
Genres: Poetry
Issues per Year: Online, with annual anthology
National Magazine Award Nominations: 0
Submissions Guidelines

Augur Magazine
Published in: Ontario (Toronto)
Founded: 2016
Genres: Fiction, Poetry, Comics/Graphic Fiction
Issues per Year: 3
National Magazine Award Nominations: 0
Submissions Guidelines

Baldhip
Published in: Canada
Founded: 2014  Genres: Poetry, Visual ArtIssues per Year: 4
National Magazine Award Nominations: 0
Submissions Guidelines

Brick
Published in: Ontario (Toronto)
Founded: 1977
Genres: Fiction, Poetry, Creative Non-fiction
Issues per Year: 2
National Magazine Awards: 5 (most recently: Linda Spalding, Silver Medal, One of a Kind, 2013)
NMA Nominations: 13
Submission Guidelines

Broken Pencil
Published in: Ontario
Founded: 1995
Genres: Fiction, Reviews, Interviews, Zine Culture
Issues per Year: 4
National Magazine Award Nominations: 2
Submission Guidelines

Bywords.ca
Published in: Ontario (Ottawa)
Founded: 1990
Genres: Poetry
Issues per Year: Monthly (online)
National Magazine Award Nominations: None
Submissions Guidelines

cover220-1Canadian Literature
Published in: British Columbia (Univ. of British Columbia)
Founded: 1959
Genres: Poetry, Reviews
Issues per Year: 2
National Magazine Award Nominations: None
Submissions Guidelines

CNQ: Canadian Notes & Queries
Published in: Ontario (Windsor)
Founded: 1968
Genres: Fiction, Poetry, Reviews, Essays
Issues per Year: 3
National Magazine Awards: 2 (most recently: Russell Smith, Gold Medal, Fiction, 2016)
NMA Nominations: 4
Submission Guidelines

vol1Canadian Poetry
Published in: Ontario (Univ. of Western Ontario)
Founded: 1977
Genres: Poetry
Issues per Year: 1
National Magazine Awards: None
Submission Guidelines

Canthius Journal 
Published in: Canada
Founded: 2015 (debut issue Fall 2015)
Genres: Poetry & Prose (from women and genderqueer writers)
Issues per Year: 2
National Magazine Awards: None
Submission Guidelines

Capilano Review, The
Published in: British Columbia (Capilano University, Vancouver)
Founded: 1972
Genres: Fiction, Poetry, Reviews, Visual Arts, Interviews
Issues per Year: 3
National Magazine Awards: 4 (most recently: Weyman Chan, Silver Medal, Poetry, 2001)
NMA Nominations: 12
Submission Guidelines

Carousel
Published in: Ontario (University of Guelph)
Founded: 1983
Genres: Fiction, Poetry, Visual Arts
Issues per Year: 2
National Magazine Awards: 1 (Julie Bruck, Gold Medal, Poetry, 1998)
NMA Nominations: 3
Submission Guidelines

Carte Blanche
Published in: Quebec (Quebec Writers’ Federation, Montreal)
Founded: 2004
Genres: Fiction, Poetry, Creative Non-fiction, Visual Arts
Issues per Year: 2
National Magazine Award Nominations: None
Submission Guidelines

Cede Poetry
Published in: British Columbia (Vancouver)
Founded: 2015
Genre: Poetry
Issues per Year: 1
National Magazine Award Nominations: None
Submission Guidelines

Claremont Review, TheClaremont_Review
Published in: British Columbia (Victoria)
Founded: 1992
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Visual Art
Issues per Year: 2
National Magazine Award Nominations: None
Submission Guidelines

Contemporary Verse 2
Published in: Manitoba (Winnipeg)
Founded: 1975
Genres: Poetry, Reviews, Interviews
Issues per Year: 4
National Magazine Award Nominations: 2
Submission Guidelines

Cosmonauts Avenue
Published in: Quebec (Montreal)
Founded: 2014
Genres: Fiction, Poetry, Creative Non-fiction, Interviews, Essays, Visual Arts, Reviews, Interviews
Issues per Year: 11
National Magazine Award Nominations: None
Submission Guidelines
 .

Dalhousie Review, The
Published in: Nova Scotia (Dalhousie University, Halifax)
Founded: 1921
Genres: Fiction, Poetry, Reviews, Essays
Issues per Year: 3
National Magazine Award Nominations: None
Submission Guidelines

Danforth Review, The
Published in: Ontario (Toronto)
Founded: 1999
Genres: Fiction
Issues per Year: 8 (online)
National Magazine Award Nominations: None
Submission Guidelines

Dorchester Review, The
Published in: Ontario (Ottawa)
Founded: 2011
Genres: Reviews, Essays, Translations
Issues per Year: 2
National Magazine Award Nominations: None
Submission Guidelines

Echolocation
Published in: Ontario (Univ. of Toronto)
Founded: 2003
Genres: Fiction, Poetry, Creative Non-fiction, Drama, Reviews, Visual Arts
Issues per year: 1-2
National Magazine Awards: None
Submission Guidelines

Eighteen Bridges
Published in: Alberta (University of Alberta, Edmonton)
Founded: 2011
Genres: Fiction, Poetry, Creative Non-fiction, Essays, Visual Art
Issues per Year: 2-3
National Magazine Awards: 12 (most recently: Lisa Gregoire, Gold Medal, Essays, 2016)
NMA Nominations: 39
Submission Guidelines

Event
Published in: British Columbia (Douglas College)
Founded: 1971
Genres: Fiction, Poetry, Reviews, Creative Non-fiction
Issues per Year: 3
National Magazine Awards: 12 (most recently: Bill Gaston, Gold Medal, Fiction, 2011)
NMA Nominations: 45
Submission Guidelines

Existere
Published in: Ontario (York University, Toronto)
Founded: 1978
Genres: Fiction, Poetry, Reviews, Creative Non-fiction, Visual Arts
Issues per Year: 2
National Magazine Award Nominations: None
Submission Guidelines

Exit, revue de poésie
Published in: Quebec (Montreal)
Founded: 1995
Genres: Poetry, Reviews
Issues per Year: 4
National Magazine Award Nominations: None
Submission Guidelines

332ELQ: Exile, the Literary Quarterly
Published in: Ontario
Founded: 1972
Genres: Fiction, Poetry, Drama
Issues per Year: 4
National Magazine Award Nominations: None
Submission Guidelines

Feathertale Review, The
Published in: Ontario (Ottawa)
Founded: 2008
Genres: Humour, Fiction, Creative Non-fiction, Poetry, Cartoons
Issues per Year: 2
National Magazine Awards: 5 (most recently: Jacob Pacey, Gold Medal, Humour, 2016)
NMA Nominations: 10
Submission Guidelines

Fiddlehead, The
Published in: New Brunswick (University of New Brunswick, Fredericton)
Founded: 1945
Genres: Fiction, Poetry, Reviews
Issues per Year: 4
National Magazine Awards: 2 (most recently: Shane Neilson, Silver Medal, Poetry, 2011)
NMA Nominations: 13
Submission Guidelines

filling Station
Published in: Alberta (Calgary)
Founded: 1993
Genres: Fiction, Poetry, Creative Non-fiction, Reviews, Interviews, Visual Arts
Issues per Year: 3
National Magazine Award Nominations: 1
Submissions Guidelines

Freefall
Published in: Alberta (Lit. Society of Calgary)
Founded: 1990
Genres: Fiction, Poetry, Visual Arts
Issues per Year: 3
National Magazine Award Nominations: None
Submissions Guidelines

Geez
Published in: Manitoba (Winnipeg)
Founded: 2007
Genres: Creative Non-fiction, Poetry, Reviews, Journalism, Photography
Issues per Year: 4
National Magazine Award Nominations: None
Submission Guidelines

Geist
Published in: British Columbia (The Geist Foundation, Vancouver)
Founded: 1990
Genres: Fiction, Poetry, Creative Non-fiction, Visual Art
Issues per Year: 4
National Magazine Awards: 6 (most recently: Karen Connelly, Gold Medal, Poetry, 2012)
NMA Nominations: 16
Submission Guidelines

Glass Buffalo
Published in: Alberta (Univ. of Alberta, Edmonton)
Founded: 2012
Genres: Fiction, Poetry, Nonfiction
Issues per Year: 3
National Magazine Award Nominations: 1
Submissions Guidelines

Grain
Published in: Saskatchewan (Sask. Writers’ Guild, Saskatoon)
Founded: 1973
Genres: Fiction, Poetry, Creative Non-fiction
Issues per Year: 4
National Magazine Awards: 4 (most recently: Ayelet Tsabari, Silver Medal, One of a Kind, 2012)
NMA Nominations: 28
Submission Guidelines

GUTS: Canadian Feminist Magazine
Published in: Ontario (Toronto)
Founded: 2012
Genres: Fiction, Creative Non-fiction, Essays, New Media
Issues per Year: Biannual, plus regular online content
National Magazine Awards Nominations: None
Submission Guidelines

Hamilton Arts & Letters
Published in: Ontario
Founded: 2008
Genres: Fiction, Poetry, Creative Non-fiction
Issues per Year: 2
National Magazine Award Nominations: None
Submission Guidelines

Hart House Review
Published in: Ontario (Univ. of Toronto)
Founded: 1991
Genres: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Non-Fiction, Visual Art
Issues per Year: 1
National Magazine Award Nominations: 0
Submissions Guidelines

urlHazlitt
Published in: Ontario
Founded: 2012
Genres: Fiction, Poetry, Creative Non-fiction
Issues per Year: Online (1 print edition per year)
National Magazine Awards: 11 (most recently: Sasha Chapin, Gold Medal, Personal Journalism, 2016)
NMA Nominations: 37
Submission Guidelines

Humber Literary Review, The
Published in: Ontario (Toronto)
Founded: 2014
Genres: Fiction, Poetry, Reviews, Essays, Art
Issues per Year: 2
National Magazine Award Nominations: 1 (Personal Journalism, 2016)
Submission Guidelines

Impressment Gang, The
Published in: Nova Scotia (Halifax)
Founded: 2014
Genres: Fiction, Non-Fiction, Poetry, Reviews
Issues per Year: 3
National Magazine Award Nominations: None
Submissions Guidelines

In/Words
Published in: Ontario (Carleton University, Ottawa)
Founded: 2001
Genres: Fiction, Poetry, Creative Non-fiction, Visual Art
Issues per Year: 2-3
National Magazine Awards Nominations: None
Submission Guidelines

Lettres québécoises
Published in: Quebec (Montreal)
Founded: 1976
Genres: Fiction, Poetry, Reviews, Interviews
Issues per Year: 4
National Magazine Award Nominations: None
Submission Guidelines

Literary Review of Canada, The
Published in: Ontario (Toronto)
Founded: 1991
Genres: Poetry, Essays, Reviews, Interviews
Issues per Year: 10
National Magazine Award Nominations: 6
Submission Guidelines

Little Brother
Published in: Ontario
Founded: 2012
Genres: Fiction, Essays, Visual Arts
Issues per Year: 2
National Magazine Award: 1 (Jess Taylor, Gold Medal, Fiction, 2013)
NMA Nominations: 7
Submission Guidelines

Mackinac, TheMackinac
Published in: Online
Founded: 2013
Genres: Poetry
Issues per Year: 3-4
National Magazine Awards: None
Submission guidelines

MacroMicroCosm
Published in: British Columbia
Founded: 2015
Genres: Fiction, Poetry, Essays, Visual Art
Issues per Year: 4 (online)
National Magazine Awards: None
Submission guidelines

Maisonneuve
Published in: Quebec (Montreal)
Founded: 2003
Genres: Fiction, Poetry, Creative Non-fiction, Reviews, Journalism, Visual Art
Issues per Year: 4
National Magazine Awards: 39 (most recently: Magazine of the Year 2016)
NMA Nominations: 144
Submission Guidelines

Malahat Review, The
Published in: British Columbia (University of Victoria)
Founded: 1967
Genres: Fiction, Poetry, Creative Non-fiction, Reviews
Issues per Year: 4
National Magazine Awards: 28 (most recently: Liz Windhorst Harmer, Gold Medal, Personal Journalism, 2013)
NMA Nominations: 84
Submission Guidelines

Maple Tree Literary Supplement59237_431692451742_7408514_n
Published in: Quebec (Montreal)
Founded: 2008
Genres: Film, Visual Arts, Literary photography, Author interviews
Issues Per Year: 3
National Magazine Award Nominations: None
Submission Guidelines

Matrix
Published in: Quebec (Concordia University, Montreal)
Founded: 1975
Genres: Fiction, Poetry, Creative Non-fiction, Reviews
Issues per Year: 2
National Magazine Award Nominations: None
Submissions Guidelines

coverMaynard, The
Published in: British Columbia
Founded: 2008
Genres: Poetry
Issues per Year: Online
National Magazine Award Nominations None
Submissions Guidelines

Montreal Review, TheMontreal_400x400
Published in: Quebec (Montreal)
Founded: 2009
Genres: Non-Fiction, Book Review
Issues per Year: 3
National Magazine Award Nominations None
Submissions Guidelines

kjadlehd_200x200

Mystery Weekly
Published in: Ontario (Ancaster)
Founded: 2015
Genres: Fiction (crime + mystery)
Issues per Year: 12
National Magazine Awards Nominations: None
Submission Guidelines

coverNashwaak Review, The
Published in: New Brunswick (St. Thomas Univ.)
Founded: 1994
Genres: Fiction, Poetry, Reviews
Issues per Year: 1
National Magazine Award Nominations: None
Submissions Guidelines

New Quarterly, The
Published in: Ontario (St. Jerome’s University, Waterloo)
Founded: 1981
Genres: Fiction, Poetry, Creative Non-fiction, Reviews, Interviews
Issues per Year: 4
National Magazine Awards: 15 (most recently: Tamas Dobozy, Gold Medal, Fiction, 2014)
NMA Nominations: 52
Submission Guidelines

NōD
Published In: Alberta (U. of Calgary)
Founded: 2014
Genres: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Non-fiction, Reviews, Visual Arts
Issues per Year: 2
National Magazine Awards: None
Submission Guidelines

Northern Appeal, TheTHE-NORTHERN-APPEAL-1.jpg
Published In: Ontario (Simcoe County and Muskoka)
Founded: 2016
Genres: Poetry, Short Stories, Photography, and Visual Art
Issues per Year: 2
National Magazine Awards: None
Submission Guidelines

Northword
Published in: Alberta (Fort McMurray)
Founded: 2012
Genres: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Non-Fiction, Visual Art
Issues per Year: 2
National Magazine Award Nominations: 0
Submissions Guidelines

Nouveau Projet
Published in: Quebec (Atelier 10, Montreal)
Founded: 2012
Genres: Fiction, Creative Non-fiction, Poetry, Essays, Visual Art
Issues per Year: 2
National Magazine Awards: 5 (Most recently: 2015 Magazine of the Year)
NMA Nominations: 18
Submission Guidelines

On SpecOnSpec_front
Published in: Alberta (Edmonton)
Founded: 1989
Genres: Fiction, Poetry,
Issues per Year: 4
National Magazine Award Nominations: None
Submission Guidelines

One Throne
Published in: Yukon (Dawson City)
Founded: 2014
Genres: Fiction, Poetry, Creative Non-fiction
Issues per Year: 2
National Magazine Award Nominations: 1 (Essays, 2016)
Submission Guidelines

Open Minds Quarterly
Published in: Ontario (Sudbury)
Founded: 1998
Genres: Poetry, Fiction, Reviews, Personal Essays (on the subject of of mental health recovery)
Issues per Year: 4
National Magazine Award Nominations: None
Submission Guidelines

ottawaterScreen Shot 2017-05-06 at 11.51.22 AM
Published in: Ontario (Ottawa)
Founded: 2005
Genres: Poetry
Issues per Year: 1
National Magazine Award Nominations: None
Submission Guidelines

PACE MagazinePACEMag
Published in: Ontario (Ottawa)
Founded: 2016
Genres: Fiction, Non-Fiction, Poetry, Essays, Reviews, Photography, Visual Art
Issues per Year: 4
National Magazine Award Nominations: None
Submission Guidelines

paperplatespaperplates
Published in: Online
Founded: —
Genres: Essays, Fiction, Poetry, Reviews
Issues per Year: 1
National Magazine Award Nominations: None
Submission Guidelines

(parenthetical)
Published in: Ontario
Founded: 2014
Genres: Fiction, Poetry, Creative Non-fiction
Issues per Year: 6
National Magazine Award Nominations: None
Submission Guidelines

Petal Journal
Published in: Ontario (Toronto); an online journal of female perspectives
Founded: 2015
Genres: Poetry
Issues per Year: Continuously (online)
National Magazine Award Nominations: None
Submission Guidelines

Plenitude
Published in: British Columbia (Victoria)
Founded: 2012
Genres: Fiction, Poetry, Creative Non-fiction, Graphic Narrative
Issues per Year: 2
National Magazine Award Nominations: None
Submissions Guidelines

Poetry is Dead
Published in: British Columbia (Burnaby)
Founded: 2009
Genres: Poetry
Issues per Year: 2
National Magazine Award Nominations: None
Submissions Guidelines

Polymath
Published in: British Columbia
Founded: 2015
Genres: Fiction, Poetry, Reviews, Visual Art
Issues per Year: 4 (online)
National Magazine Awards: None
Submission guidelines

Prairie Fire
Published in: Manitoba (Winnipeg)
Founded: 1978
Genres: Fiction, Poetry, Creative Non-fiction, Interviews
Issues per Year: 4
National Magazine Awards: 14 (most recently: Harold Hoefle, Silver Medal, Poetry, 2016)
NMA Nominations: 47
Submission Guidelines

Prairie Journal
Published in: Alberta (Calgary)
Founded: 1983
Genres: Poetry, Short Fiction, Drama, Literary Criticism
Issues per Year: 2
National Magazine Award Nominations: 2
Submissions Guidelines

PRISM International
Published in: British Columbia (University of British Columbia)
Founded: 1959
Genres: Fiction, Poetry, Creative Non-fiction, Drama, Interviews
Issues per Year: 4
National Magazine Awards: 12 (most recently: Jody Smiling, Silver Medal, Essays, 2014)
NMA Nominations: 28
Submission Guidelines

Pulp Literature
Published in: British Columbia
Founded: 2014
Genres: Short Stories, Novellas, Novel Excerpts and Graphic Novel Shorts
Issues per Year: 4
National Magazine Award Nominations: None
Submissions Guidelines

Puritan, The
Published in: Ontario (Ottawa)
Founded: 2006
Genres: Fiction, Poetry, Essays, Reviews, Interviews
Issues per Year: 4
National Magazine Awards Nominations: None
Submission Guidelines

Queen’s Quarterly
Published in: Ontario (Queen’s University, Kingston)
Founded: 1893
Genres: Fiction, Poetry, Essays, Reviews
Issues per Year: 4
National Magazine Awards: 11 (most recently: Nick Mount, Silver Medal, Arts & Entertainment, 2008)
NMA Nominations: 44
Submission Guidelines

Quilliad, The
Published in: Ontario (Toronto)
Founded: 2013
Genres: Poetry, Fiction, Art
Issues per Year: 2
National Magazine Award Nominations: None
Submission Guidelines

QWERTY
Published in: New Brunswick (UNB)
Founded: 1996
Genres: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Non-fiction; Reviews, Visual Arts
Issues per Year: 2
National Magazine Award Nominations: None
Submission Guidelines

0Rampike
Published in: Ontario (Univ. of Windsor)
Founded: 1979
Genres: Fiction, Poetry, Visual Arts
Issues per Year: 2
National Magazine Award Nominations: None
Submission Guidelines

Rhubarb
Published in: Manitoba (Winnipeg)
Founded: 1970
Genres: Creative Non-fiction, Fiction, Poetry, Drama, Visual Art, with a focus on Canada’s Mennonite communities
Issues per Year: 2-3
National Magazine Award Nominations: None
Submission Guidelines

Ricepaper
Published in: British Columbia (Vancouver)
Founded: 1995
Genres: Fiction, Poetry, Creative Non-fiction, Visual Arts
Issues per Year: 4
National Magazine Award Nominations: 5
Submission Guidelines

Riddle Fence
Published in: Newfoundland & Labrador
Founded: 2009
Genres: Fiction, Poetry, Creative Non-fiction, Visual Arts
Issues per Year: 3
National Magazine Award Nominations: None
Submission Guidelines

Room
Published in: British Columbia (Vancouver)
Founded: 1975
Genres: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Non-fiction, Interviews, Visual Arts
Issues per Year: 4
National Magazine Award Nominations: 2
Submission Guidelines

Rusty Toque, The
Published in: Ontario
Founded: 2011
Genres: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Non-fiction, Graphic Narratives
Issues per Year: 1
National Magazine Award Nominations: 1 (Poetry, 2016)
Submission Guidelines

Scarborough Fair
Published in: Ontario (Univ. of Toronto, Scarborough)
Founded: 1967
Genres: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Non-Fiction, Visual Art
Issues per Year: 1
National Magazine Award Nominations: 0
Submissions Guidelines

Spadina Literary ReviewSpadinaLitReview.png
Published in: Ontario (Toronto)
Founded: 2011
Genres: Poetry, Fiction, Non-Fiction, Artwork, Comics
Issues per Year: 6
National Magazine Award Nominations: None
Submissions Guidelines

sub-Terrain
Published in: British Columbia (Vancouver)
Founded: 1992
Genres: Fiction, Poetry, Creative Non-fiction, Reviews, Visual Arts
Issues per Year: 3
National Magazine Awards: 2 (most recently: Zsuzsi Gartner, Silver Medal, Fiction, 2016)
NMA Nominations: 7
Submission Guidelines

Taddle Creek
Published in: Ontario (Toronto)
Founded: 1997
Genres: Fiction, Poetry, Creative Non-fiction, Visual Arts
Issues per Year: 2
National Magazine Awards: 1 (Michael Cho, Silver Medal, Words & Pictures, 2007)
NMA Nominations: 15
Submission Guidelines

THIS Magazine
Published in: Ontario (Red Maple Foundation, Toronto)
Founded: 1966
Genres: Fiction, Poetry, Creative Non-fiction, Essays, Visual Art
Issues per Year: 6
National Magazine Awards: 19 (most recently: Min Gyo Chung, Silver Medal, Illustration, 2016)
NMA Nominations: 85
Submission Guidelines

Touch the Donkeydonkey small
Published in:
Founded: 2014
Genres: Poetry
Issues per Year: 1
National Magazine Award Nominations: None
Submission Guidelines

Understory Magazineus
Published in: Nova Scotia (Halifax & Lunenberg)
Founded: 2013
Genres: Fiction, Poetry, Essays, Spoken Word
Issues per Year: 2-3
NMA Nominations: None
Submission Guidelines

untethered
Published in: Ontario (Toronto)
Founded: 2014
Genres: Fiction, Poetry, Creative Non-Fiction and Visual Art.
Issues per Year: 2
National Magazine Award Nominations: None
Submissions Guidelines

Vallum
Published in: Quebec (Montreal)
Founded: 2000
Genres: Poetry, Reviews, Essays, Interviews
Issues per Year: 2
National Magazine Awards: 2 (most recently: David McGuimpsey, Gold Medal, Poetry, 2016)
NMA Nominations: 8
Submission Guidelines

Windsor Review
Published in: Ontario (University of Windsor)
Founded: 1965
Genres: Fiction, Poetry, Creative Non-fiction, Interviews, Visual Arts
Issues per Year: 2
National Magazine Award Nominations: None
Submission Guidelines

Winnipeg Review, The
Published in: Manitoba (Winnipeg)
Founded: 2010
Genres: Poetry, Reviews, Interviews
Issues per Year: 4 (online)
National Magazine Award Nominations: None
Submission Guidelines

XYZ, La Revue
Published in: Quebec (Ville Saint-Laurent)
Founded: 1985
Genres: Fiction, Reviews, Interviews
Issues per Year: 3
National Magazine Award Nominations: None
Submission Guidelines

In addition to the above list, many of Canada’s news, general-interest and arts magazines publish fiction, poetry and creative non-fiction, including but not limited to Border Crossings, The Walrus, Toronto Life, Boulderpavement, Inroads, Newfoundland Quarterly, Ottawa Magazine, Georgia Strait, Alberta Views.

See also these great guides to entering Canadian magazine writing contests:
Your Guide to Fall Magazine Writing Contests
Your Guide to Summer Magazine Writing Contests
Your Guide to Winter/Spring Magazine Writing Contests

Read all about this year’s National Magazine Award winners, which included medals by literary magazines Arc Poetry Magazine, Event, Hazlitt, Little Brother, Prairie Fire, PRISM International, sub-Terrain, The Feathertale Review, The New Quarterly, Vallum and Maisonneuve, which won Magazine of the Year.

Magazine Industry, News & Events, NMA Winners

Best Canadian Essays 2012 features 7 National Magazine Award winners

The 2012 installment of The Best Canadian Essays has been released from Tightrope Books, edited by Ray Robertson and Christopher Doda.

Like previous editions of the book, The Best Canadian Essays 2012 features a number of National Magazine Award-winning stories by some remarkable authors celebrated at the 35th NMA gala earlier this year, and from previous years:

  • Alexandra Molotkow, whose article “My Cybersexual Education” (Toronto Life) was part of a series that won Gold in Editorial Package for 2011;
  • Paul Wilson, whose article “Adrift on the Nile” (The Walrus) about the Arab Spring won Gold in One-of-a-Kind;
  • Eric Andrew Gee, whose article “Our Tar Sands Man in Washington” (Maisonneuve) won Honourable Mention in Politics & Public Interest;
  • Chris Turner, whose article “Paradigm Shift” (Alberta Views) won Honourable Mention in Essays.

The book also features essays by former National Magazine Award winners and finalists Monte Paulsen, Ryan Bigge, and Jeet Heer.

Check out the complete list of essays from the 2012 edition and buy it at Tightrope Books.

Archives, Awards Spotlight, Summer Reading Series, Written Awards

Summer Reading Series 2: Great Essays from the NMA Archives

“What do I know?” asked Lewis Lapham.

“The question distinguishes the essay from the less adventurous forms of expository prose—the dissertation, the polemic, the article, the campaign speech, the tract, the op-ed, the arrest warrant, the hotel bill. Writers… begin the first paragraph knowing how, when, where, and why they intend to claim the privilege of the last word. Not so the essayist, even if what he or she is writing purports to be a history or a field report. Like Twain’s Huckleberry Finn, the essayist lights out for the territories, never sure of the next sentence until the words show up on the page.”*

Our summer reading series continues this week with a selection of award-winning essays, all (and more) available at the National Magazine Awards archive (magazine-awards.com/archive).

1. “The Ultraviolet Catastrophe” by Alice Major, The New Quarterly (2011 Gold winner in Essays)
Are the limits of our world finite, or can there be something beyond its edges? Is death a tragedy, or is it merely catastrophic, like the draining of waves of light into a black hole. Alice Major explores what the science of quantum physics can teach her about catharsis following the death of her father, in this essay that preceded her recent book, Intersecting Sets: A Poet Looks at Science (University of Alberta Press).

“How can a body be capable of so little and yet a mind be capable of so much? Humans are fascinated by such extremes. This is the material for our stories, the stuff of our legends. We don’t really find the ordinary terribly exciting. We seem to find that such singularities illuminate the human condition.” [Read more]

2. “A 10 Percent World” by J.B. MacKinnon, The Walrus (2010 Gold winner in Essays)
“I speculated in passing that, when seen through the lens of deep time, ours is a 10 Percent World–a blue-green globe that reflects just one-tenth the natural variety and abundance it once did.”

11-time National Magazine Award winner J.B. MacKinnon attempts to untangle prevailing notions of normality in humankind’s understanding of its own impact on the Earth. We tend to err not in our assumption that, previous to the age in which we live, the natural world was comparatively more vibrant and less degraded (though that is not uncommonly a disputed premise); rather, it is the scope of our vision of the past that is limited, perhaps so severely that it begs a completely new set of eyes. 

“The purpose of all of this,” writes MacKinnon, “… is not to demand some romantic return to a pre-human Eden, but rather to expand our options. Our sense of what is possible sets limits on our dreams.” [Read more]

3. “The Big Decision” by Chris Turner, AlbertaViews (2008 Gold winner in Essays)
One of Canada’s foremost science journalists, Chris Turner lays bare the case for nuclear power in Alberta–yes, home of the oilsands–severing myth from fact while ruminating on both. Perhaps at its heart, it’s an argument for a badly needed argument, yet without vacillation:

“The most egregious myth, however–the one that could damn Alberta to a nuclear future as the 21st-century economy races greenly past–is the one that says it’s our only choice. Allow me to be exceedingly blunt: that’s just bullshit.” [Read more]

Read these essays and more at the National Magazine Awards archive: magazine-awards.com/archive

Previous editions of our Summer Reading Series: Travel

* From Lewis Lapham, “Figures of Speech” (Harper’s, November 2010, p.7)
Huckleberry Finn illustration from the wonderful 1885 edition of the novel, published by Charles L. Webster & Co, whose illustrations were commissioned of New York artist Edward W. Kemple.