New Yorker leads pack in 2011 magazine award nominations

Joe Pompeo
·Media Reporter

Spring has arrived, which means magazine awards season is upon us, and the American Society of Magazine Editors (ASME) kicked things into gear Monday by announcing the finalists for the 2011 National Magazine Awards, which will be presented in New York on May 9.

As was the case with last year's nominees, The New Yorker is leading the pack, with nine nominations, including general excellence in the news, sports and entertainment category. (The publications will for the first time be judged this year according to subject area rather than circulation.) New York, the New York Times Magazine and Virginia Quarterly Review are trailing close behind with six nominations a piece, followed by GQ with five and The Atlantic with four.

In all, 54 titles have been nominated in 21 categories; finalists for the top prize of magazine of the year will be announced next week. In 2010, that distinction went to Condé Nast's Glamour, which is so far not a contender in this year's contest.

"This was an extraordinary year for magazines," said Sid Holt, ASME's chief executive, in a statement. "The 2011 finalists include Michael Hastings' 'The Runaway General,' [Rolling Stone] which led to the resignation of Stanley McChrystal, and Jane Mayer's 'Covert Operations,' [The New Yorker] on the billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch--stories that made news while covering the news. With pieces on the health-care crisis, the failure of the criminal justice system, the impact of autism and conflicts around the globe, all of this year's nominees underscore the power of magazine journalism."

The full list of finalists is below:

GENERAL EXCELLENCE, PRINT

News, Sports and Entertainment Magazines
Honors large-circulation weeklies, biweeklies and general-interest monthlies
Fast Company; New York; The New Yorker; People; TIME

Literary, Political and Professional Magazines
Honors academic and scholarly publications as well as smaller-circulation general-interest magazines
Lapham's Quarterly; The Paris Review; Poetry; The Sun; Virginia Quarterly Review

Fashion, Service and Lifestyle Magazines
Honors women's magazines, including health and fitness magazines and family-centric publications
Essence; Real Simple; Vogue; W; Women's Health

Food, Travel and Design Magazines
Honors lifestyle magazines for men and women as well as shelter titles
Condé Nast Traveler; Garden & Gun; House Beautiful; Martha Stewart Living; Saveur

Finance, Technology and Lifestyle Magazines
Honors men's magazines as well as business, science and active-interest publications
Backpacker; Bloomberg Markets; GQ; Popular Mechanics; Scientific American

Special Interest Magazines
Honors magazines serving targeted audiences, including city and regional magazines
Audubon; Los Angeles; San Francisco; Texas Monthly; Time Out New York

DESIGN, PRINT
Esquire; Fortune; GQ; New York; Wired

PHOTOGRAPHY, PRINT
GQ; Martha Stewart Living; National Geographic; The New York Times Magazine; W

NEWS AND DOCUMENTARY PHOTOGRAPHY
National Geographic; The New York Times Magazine (2); TIME; Virginia Quarterly Review

FEATURE PHOTOGRAPHY
AARP The Magazine; ESPN The Magazine; National Geographic; The New York Times Magazine; W

SINGLE-TOPIC ISSUE
Bloomberg Businessweek; GQ: National Geographic; New York; Scientific American

MAGAZINE SECTION
Esquire; New York; Real Simple (2); Wired

PERSONAL SERVICE
Good Housekeeping; Men's Health; Men's Journal; O, The Oprah Magazine; Wired

LEISURE INTERESTS
Cooking Light; Golf Digest; Los Angeles; Men's Journal; Runner's World

PUBLIC INTEREST
The Atlantic; Marie Claire; The New Yorker; OnEarth; Texas Monthly

REPORTING
Harper's Magazine; The New York Times Magazine; The New Yorker; Rolling Stone; Virginia Quarterly Review

FEATURE WRITING
The Atlantic; GQ; Los Angeles; Mother Jones; The New Yorker

PROFILE WRITING
The Atlantic; Harper's Magazine; New York; The New York Times Magazine; The New Yorker

ESSAYS & CRITICISM
The American Scholar; The Antioch Review; The New Yorker; The Paris Review; Virginia Quarterly Review

COLUMNS & COMMENTARY
Esquire; New York; The New Yorker; Vanity Fair (2)

FICTION
The Atlantic; The New Yorker (2); Virginia Quarterly Review (2)