Finalists announced for Alberta Magazine Awards

The finalists for the Alberta Magazine Awards 2017 have been announced in the showcase category (achievement award recipients and finalists for magazine of the year and best new magazine will be announced in a week.)

Alberta story finalists

• Steven Sandor, Avenue Edmonton,"Are we there yet?"
• Taylor Lambert, Swerve, "Coming through slaughter"
• Michael Hingston, Swerve, "Greetings from the fourth dimension"
• Sid Marty; Evan Osenton, editor, Alberta Views, "In praise of protest"
• Max Fawcett; Evan Osenton, editor, Alberta Views, "Is it too late for the Heritage Trust Fund?"
• Dawn McCoy, Canadian Cowboy Country, "Len Perry"
• Tadzio Richards; Evan Osenton, editor, Alberta Views, "Our vital forests" 
• Tera Swanson; Meghan Ward, editor, Canadian Rockies Annual, "Patterns of the past"
• Samantha Power, Avenue Edmonton, "The Art of Reconciliation"
• Omar Mouallem, Avenue Calgary, "The fight of his life"

Other category finalists

• Editorial package
• Emerging writer
• Essay
• Feature writing: long
• Feature writing: short
• Fiction
• Poetry
• Profile
• Service: Business, education health and medicine
• Service: Lifestyle
• Art direction for a single issue
• Emerging visual creator
• Feature design
• Illustration
• Photograph: essay or series
• Photograph: Landscape, still life and architecture
• Photograph: People and portraiture
• Cover
• Infographic
• Digital presence: website

New Trail named Alberta mag of the year; Curtis Gillespie of Eighteen Bridges, editor of the year

[This post has been updated] New Trail magazine, the alumni magazine of the University of Alberta, was named Magazine of the Year last night at the Alberta Magazine Awards. It also won gold awards for illustration, art direction of a single issue, editorial package and best cover. All of those awards were for its heavily illustrated "Future of Everything" issue. Art direction was by Marcey Andrews and illustrations by [update] Raymond Biesinger  and Gwen Keraval.

Editor of the year was Curtis Gillespie of Eighteen Bridges, which won 4 gold and 1 silver awards. 

An outstanding individual winner at the awards was Edmonton-based writer Omar Mouallem, who won gold for profiles  in Alberta Venture and service:lifestyle in Swerve and silver for short feature writing in Avenue Edmonton. Mouallem is also editor of The Yards, for which gold went to Mack Lamoureux and silver Allison Voisin in the  emerging writer category. 

Other notable multiple award winners were:

• Avenue Edmonton 6 (2 gold, 4 silver)
• Eighteen Bridges 5 (4 gold, 1 silver)
• Avenue Calgary 5 (5 silver)
• Swerve 4 (3 gold, 1 silver)
• Western Living 4 (1 gold, 4 silver)
• Alberta Oil 3 (2 gold, 1 silver)
• Alberta Venture 3 (1 gold, 2 silver)

Winners named in Alberta Magazine Awards

Winners were announced March 5 by the Alberta Magazine Awards. Suzanne Trudel, executive director of the Alberta Magazine Publishers Association (AMPA), which hosted the annual awards, said

"Collectively these individuals bring passion and insight to our unique Alberta culture and ensure that Alberta voices and stories are shared and heard throughout the province and beyond our borders." 

Achievement awards included:

Grains West was named
best new magazine

• GrainsWest was named best new magazine, as an innovative quarterly that combines three issues focussing on the grains industry and the shaping of modern agriculture, plus a food issue every September bridging the gap between farmers and consumers. It is co-published by Alberta Barley and the Alberta Wheat Commission. 
• Steven Sandor of Avenue Edmonton was named editor of the year, The judges said "Steven is known for his leadership, his innovation, his thoughtful and challenging mentorship of writers and his dedication to maintaining their unique voice as he provides editorial guidance."
• Jennifer Schmidt-Rempel, the publisher and editor of Lethbridge Living, was named volunteer of the year, not only for serving on the Alberta Magazine Publishers Association (AMPA) from 2010 to 2014, including three years as president, but also for "ngaging with post-secondary students embarking on magazine careers to lending her time and talents to initiatives aimed at creating and building a stronger Lethbridge community, from arts and culture to business and industry."
• Chris Bird was given the Achievement in publishing award, in part for his entrepreneurial talents as the founder of Fly Fusion magazine and its multi-media spinoffs, but also as a dedicated member of the AMPA board.

Showcase winners in various categories were:

Alberta Story

Gold: Alberta Views, "Game Changer" by Arno Kopecky

Silver: Swerve, "The Fixture and the Hipster" by Jeremy Klaszus

Art Direction of a Single Issue

Gold: Georgie, issue #3 W14, Nathan Marshall art director; Aaron Pedersen photographers

Silver: Western Living, October, Paul Roelofs, art director; Naomi MacDougall, associate art director; Jenny Reed, assistant art director

Cover

Gold for magazine cover went
to Western Living art director
Paul Roelofs & and photographer
Evaan Kheraj

Gold: Western Living, September, Paul Roelofs, art director; Evaan Kheraj portrait photographer

Silver: Up! Magazine, the Food Guide, Jill Foran, editor

Digital Presence

Gold: Alberta Oil, 10th anniversary tablet edition, Alberta Oil staff

Silver: Avenue Calgary, Jaelyn Molyneux, web editor; Karin Olafson, assistant web editor

Emerging Writer

Gold: Glass Buffalo, "A Tale of Two Foms", Peter Takach

Silver: Glass Buffalo, "A Paragraph", Josh Greschner

Essay

Gold: Swerve, "Children of a Lesser Santa", Omar Mouallem

Silver: Swerve, "The Gospel of Fire and Mud", Russ Peters

Feature Design

Gold: Avenue Edmonton, "Back in the Game", Pete Nguyen, art director

Silver: New Trail, "The Face of a Century", Marcey Andrews, art director

Feature Writing

Gold: Alberta Venture, "DOT-111", Tony Davis

Silver: Swerve, "A Relationship Goes Viral", Omar Mouallem

Fiction

Gold: Glass Buffalo, "Pearl", Bruce Cinnamon

Silver: Prairie Journal, "The Royal Visit", Vivian Zenari

Gold award for illustration went to
Avenue Calgary and Jan Krause

Illustration

Gold: Avenue Calgary, "What's Lost", Jon Krause

Silver: New Trail, Best Summer Ever, Katy Dockrill

Photograph:Landscape, Still Life & Architecture

Gold: Westworld, "Phantoms on Ice", Kurtis Kristianson, Spindrift Photography

Silver: Avenue Calgary, "Merry Little Christmas", Julya Hajnoczky

Photography: People & Portraiture

Gold: Avenue Calgary, "Cultural Movement", Jared Sych

Silver: Alberta Venture, "Laws of the Land", Joey Podlubny

Poetry

Gold: Freefall, "But I'm No One", Weyman Chan

Silver: Glass Buffalo, "Frog Lake", Erika Luckert

Profile

Gold: New Trail, "Ray Muzyka's Next Chapter", Omar Mouallem

Silver: Swerve, "The Long Journey of Nathan Phelps", Marcello Di Cintio

Service

Gold: Swerve, "It's Your Funeral", Rita Sirignano

Silver: Western Living, "Ultimate Okanagan", Neal McLennan, Evelynn Takoff, Jim Sutherland