The Walrus dominated the 30th annual National Magazine Awards on Friday night in Toronto, taking home 16 prizes, including magazine of the year.

The Toronto-based publication, which bills itself as "a Canadian general interest magazine with an international outlook," received six gold and 10 silver awards, along with 34 honourable mentions. Toronto Life followed with two golds, four silvers, and 17 honourable mentions.

Other multiple-award winners included:

  • The now-defunct Toro, with four golds, one silver, 10 honourable mentions.
  • Maclean's, with three golds, one silver, 11 honourable mentions.
  • Report on Business, with two golds, two silvers, 11 honourable mentions.
  • L'actualité, with one gold, one silver, 12 honourable mentions.
  • Explore, with one gold, two silvers, eight honourable mentions.

The French-language L'actualité finished as the runner-up for magazine of the year, which goes to the publication that "most consistently engages, surprises, and serves the needs of its readers," as judged by the three-member jury of the National Magazine Awards Foundation, which considered 43 publications for the honour.

Highlights of the individual awards included Robert Fulford winning his record 13th gold award, for his columns in Queen's Quarterly.

David Gilmour was a double gold winner for his article My Life with Tolstoy in The Walrus, which took the top honours in both the essays and personal journalism categories.

Deborah Campbell captured gold in the society category and silver in essays for her piece Iran's Quiet Revolution, also in The Walrus.

Mark Shatzker won gold in travel for The Pecking Order (Toro), silver in humour for The Free Drinks Investment Strategy (Report on Business), and an honourable mention in editorial package.

2100 submissions considered

Other multiple winners included Ray Ford (one silver, three honourable mentions), Trevor Cole (two silvers, two honourable mentions), and Gerald Hannon (one silver, two honourable mentions).

Giller Prize winner Vincent Lam and CBC.ca writer Andre Mayer won gold in the service: health and family category for their article The Best Medicine, which appeared in Toronto Life.

In the special categories, the Alexander Ross Award for best new writer went to Jeremy Klaszus, for his articles Big Oil on Trial, and Trouble in the Fields in Alberta Views magazine. Buffy Cram won the best student writer award for her article Man Hands in Prairie Fire.

Neville Gilfoy — who has been behind the launch of several magazines, including Atlantic Insight, Eastern Woods and Waters and Atlantic Progress — received the Foundation Award for outstanding achievement.

The National Magazine Awards Foundation also announced the winner of its award for best magazine cover of the past 30 years. Online voters chose Canadian Geographic's Through the Lens, which appeared in 1999.

The NMAF considered 2100 submissions from across Canada for this year's awards.