A magazine described as "unabashedly of, for and about Alberta" has taken the top prize at the 32nd annual National Magazine Awards, held in Toronto on Friday evening.

AlbertaViews nabbed the coveted Magazine of the Year title at this year's gala, with the Calgary-based publication hailed as being "packaged and presented so compellingly that it commands universal attention."

The three-judge panel that chose the winner also called AlbertaViews "an impassioned and authentic voice that demands to be heard" and said the title "is defining what idea-driven and socially driven magazines should be."

'AlbertaViews is defining what idea-driven and socially driven magazines should be.'—NMA Magazine of the Year jury

AlbertaViews beat finalists Canadian Business and Spacing.

Calgary writer Chris Koentges took the spotlight as this year's most celebrated individual winner, capturing four awards.

"Helen Koentges," his Swerve magazine feature paying tribute to his mother following her death from brain cancer, won gold in the health and medicine category and tied for silver in personal journalism. He won both gold and silver in the one-of-a-kind category for "L.A. Torn Mad with Footsteps" (published in Up! Magazine) and "Driving Mary Siegel" (published in Swerve).

Perennial NMA winners Toronto Life and The Walrus once again led among publications, with the former taking four gold and five silver awards Friday night and the latter scoring five gold and one silver.

Others recognized Friday evening include:

  • Author and journalist J.B. MacKinnon, who picked up a pair of gold awards for his Explore magazine columns and for the specific item "Becoming an Optimist" (science, technology and the environment category).
  • Photographers Clay Stang, who won both gold and silver in the portrait photography category, and Natasha V, who pulled off a similar sweep for still-life photography.
  • Veteran journalists Ian Brown and David Macfarlane each picked up their 12th National Magazine Awards: the former won gold in best short feature for "Man vs. Behemoth" (published in Explore), while the latter scored gold in the profile division for "The Prophet" (published in Toronto Life).
  • Illustrator Jillian Tamaki picked up a gold award for her work accompanying the Walrus feature "The Lynching of Louie Sam." Tamaki is a regular contributor to CBCNews.ca/arts.
  • Azure magazine was the inaugural gold award-winner for best single issue, a new category.
  • The fourth annual best student writer award went to Chris Watt, for his Maisonneuve piece "Iraq's Walking Dead," which was also given an honourable mention in the investigative reporting category.

A full list of winners in the 40 categories is available on the National Magazine Awards website.

The evening also included a tribute to industry veteran and past NMA winner Cynthia Brouse, whose credits include Saturday Night, Canadian Business, Maclean's, Toronto Life and Chatelaine. Organizers honoured Brouse with the Foundation Award for Outstanding Achievement in recognition of her more than three decades in the industry, as a writer, editor and journalism teacher at Ryerson University and George Brown College.

The National Magazine Awards are presented by the non-profit National Magazine Awards Foundation, which celebrates the best in magazine writing, photography and editorial packaging in the Canadian industry.