The National Magazine Awards are a series of US awards that honor excellence in the magazine

Magazine

Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...

 industry. They are administered by the American Society of Magazine Editors

American Society of Magazine Editors

The American Society of Magazine Editors is an industry trade group for editors of magazines published in the United States. The group advocates on behalf of member organizations with respect to First Amendment issues, and serves as a networking hub for editors and other industry employees...

 and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism

Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism

The Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism is one of Columbia's graduate and professional schools. It offers three degree programs: Master of Science in journalism , Master of Arts in journalism and a Ph.D. in communications...

 in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

. The awards have been presented annually since 1966.

They are generally considered the highest award in the magazine

Magazine

Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...

 industry; in the magazine world, they are roughly equivalent to the Pulitzer Prizes (which are far more widely known in the popular culture, but do not include a magazine category).

Recipients of awards are selected in a two-step procedure: First, entries are reviewed by a judging panel, which recommends a group of finalists; then, a second panel of judges chooses one winner in each category. Categories include General Excellence, Personal Service, Leisure Interests, Reporting, Public Interest, Feature Writing, Profile Writing, Essays, Columns and Commentary, Reviews and Criticism, Magazine Section, Single-Topic Issue, Design, Photography, Photojournalism, Photo Portfolio, Fiction, General Excellence Online, Personal Service Online, and Interactive Feature.

Winners in each of the categories are awarded an "Ellie." It is a copper-colored stabile by Alexander Calder

Alexander Calder

Alexander Calder was an American sculptor and artist most famous for inventing mobile sculptures. In addition to mobile and stable sculpture, Alexander Calder also created paintings, lithographs, toys, tapestry, jewelry and household objects.-Childhood:Alexander "Sandy" Calder was born in Lawnton,...

, resembling an elephant. The National Magazine Awards web site has a searchable database of all the winners and Top Five finalists.

Select winners

A sample of three categories. See the website for full list of winners.

Reporting

DATE	NAME	ARTICLE	MAGAZINE
2011	Scott Horton	"The Guantanamo 'Suicides'"	Harper's Magazine Harper's Magazine Harper's Magazine is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts, with a generally left-wing perspective. It is the second-oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the U.S. . The current editor is Ellen Rosenbush, who replaced Roger Hodge in January 2010...
2009	Dexter Filkins Dexter Filkins Dexter Price Filkins is an American journalist known primarily for his coverage of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan for The New York Times. He was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize in 2002 for his dispatches from Afghanistan, and he won a Pulitzer Prize in 2009 as part of a team of New York Times...	"Right at the Edge"	The New York Times Magazine The New York Times Magazine The New York Times Magazine is a Sunday magazine supplement included with the Sunday edition of The New York Times. It is host to feature articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted many notable contributors...
2008	Peter Hessler Peter Hessler Peter Hessler is an American writer and journalist. He is the author of three acclaimed books about China and has contributed numerous articles to The New Yorker and National Geographic, among other publications...	"China's Instant Cities"	National Geographic
2007	C.J. Chivers	"The School"	Esquire Esquire (magazine) Esquire is a men's magazine, published in the U.S. by the Hearst Corporation. Founded in 1932, it flourished during the Great Depression under the guidance of founder and editor Arnold Gingrich.-History:...
2006	James Bamford James Bamford V. James Bamford is an American bestselling author and journalist who writes about United States intelligence agencies, most notably the National Security Agency.-Biography:...	"Man Who Sold the War"	Rolling Stone Rolling Stone Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
2005	Samantha Power Samantha Power Samantha Power is an Irish American academic, governmental official and writer. She is currently a Special Assistant to President Barack Obama and runs the Office of Multilateral Affairs and Human Rights as Senior Director of Multilateral Affairs on the Staff of the National Security Council...	"Dying in Darfur"	The New Yorker The New Yorker The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
2004	Evan Wright Evan Wright Evan Wright is an American writer, journalist, author and television writer and producer. He has reported extensively on subcultures for Rolling Stone and Vanity Fair. His latest work is American Desperado, a book he co-wrote with Jon Roberts, who was featured in the documentary the Cocaine...	"The Killer Elite"	Rolling Stone
2003	Jeffrey Goldberg Jeffrey Goldberg Jeffrey Mark Goldberg is an American journalist. He is an author and a staff writer for The Atlantic, having previously worked for The New Yorker. Goldberg writes principally on foreign affairs, with a focus on the Middle East and Africa...	"In the Party of God"	The New Yorker
2002	William Langewiesche William Langewiesche William Langewiesche is an American author and journalist, and was a professional airplane pilot for many years. Since 2006 he has been the international correspondent for Vanity Fair magazine.-Career:...	"Crash of Egypt Air 990"	Atlantic Monthly
2001	Sean Flynn	"The Perfect Fire"	Esquire
2000	Janine di Giovanni Janine di Giovanni Janine di Giovanni is an author and award-winning foreign correspondent. She is a regular contributor to The Times, Vanity Fair,The Evening Standard and The Guardian.Di Giovanni grew up in Caldwell, New Jersey.... , Sebastian Junger Sebastian Junger Sebastian Junger is an American author, journalist and documentarian, most famous for the best-selling book The Perfect Storm: A True Story of Men Against the Sea, his award-winning chronicle of the war in Afghanistan in the 2010 movie Restrepo, and his 2010 book War.-Background:Junger was born...	"Madness Visible," "Forensics of War"	Vanity Fair Vanity Fair (magazine) Vanity Fair is a magazine of pop culture, fashion, and current affairs published by Condé Nast. The present Vanity Fair has been published since 1983 and there have been editions for four European countries as well as the U.S. edition. This revived the title which had ceased publication in 1935...
1999	Michael Isikoff Michael Isikoff Michael Isikoff is an investigative journalist for NBC News, formerly with the United States magazine Newsweek. He joined Newsweek as an investigative correspondent in June, 1994, and has written extensively on the U.S... , Evan Thomas Evan Thomas Evan Welling Thomas III is an American journalist and author. He currently teaches journalism at Princeton University.-Life and career:Thomas was born in Huntington, New York and was raised in Cold Spring Harbor, New York...	"Clinton and the Intern"	Newsweek Newsweek Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
1998	John Colapinto John Colapinto John Colapinto is an award-winning journalist, author and novelist and is currently a staff writer at The New Yorker.Prior to working at The New Yorker, Colapinto wrote for Vanity Fair, New York magazine and The New York Times Magazine, and in 1995 he became a contributing editor at Rolling Stone,...	"True Story of John/Joan"	Rolling Stone
1997	Jon Krakauer Jon Krakauer Jon Krakauer is an American writer and mountaineer, primarily known for his writing about the outdoors and mountain-climbing...	"Into Thin Air"	Outside Outside (magazine) Outside is an American magazine focused on the outdoors. The first issue debuted in September 1977 with its mission statement declaring that the publication was "dedicated to covering the people, sports and activities, politics, art, literature, and hardware of the outdoors..."Its founders were...
1996	Connie Bruck	"Politics of Perception"	The New Yorker
1995	Eric Schlosser Eric Schlosser Eric Schlosser is an American journalist and author known for investigative journalism, such as in his books Fast Food Nation, Reefer Madness and Chew On This.- Personal History :...	"Reefer Madness"	Atlantic Monthly
1994	Lawrence Wright	"Remembering Satan"	The New Yorker
1993	Glenn Zorpette, John A. Adam John A. Adam John A. Adam is a writer and editor, based in Washington, D.C.Assignments have taken him from zones in Southwest Asia to the backwaters of the Amazon. He has profiled numerous leaders in science and technology, including Internet pioneers Bob Kahn and Vint Cerf, pacemaker inventor Wilson...	"Iraq and the Bomb," "Halting Proliferation"	IEEE Spectrum IEEE Spectrum IEEE Spectrum is a magazine edited by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. The IEEE's description of it is:IEEE Spectrum began publishing in January 1964 as a successor to Electrical Engineering...
1992	Michael Kelly Michael Kelly (editor) Michael Thomas Kelly was an American journalist, a columnist for The Washington Post, and an editor at The New Republic, National Journal, and The Atlantic. He came to prominence via his reporting on the first Gulf War, but suffered professional embarrassment for his role in the Stephen Glass...	"Highway to Hell"	The New Republic
1991	Connie Bruck	"Deal of the Year"	The New Yorker
1990	Mark Danner Mark Danner Mark David Danner is a prominent American writer, journalist, and educator. He is a former staff writer for The New Yorker and frequent contributor to The New York Review of Books. Danner specializes in U.S. foreign affairs, war and politics, and has written extensively on Haiti, Central America,...	"Beyond the Mountains"	The New Yorker

Feature Writing

Date	Name	Article	Magazine
2011	Ben Ehrenreich Ben Ehrenreich Ben Ehrenreich is an American freelance journalist and novelist who lives in Los Angeles. Ehrenreich began working as a journalist in the alternative press in the late 1990s, publishing extensively in LA Weekly and the Village Voice...	"The End"	Los Angeles Los Angeles (magazine) Los Angeles magazine is a monthly regional magazine of national stature. Published by Emmis Communications and produced monthly since the spring of 1961, LA Magazine is a combination of award-winning feature writing, investigative reporting, service journalism, and design, the definitive resource...
2010	Skip Hollandsworth Skip Hollandsworth Walter Ned Hollandsworth , better known by his pen name of Skip Hollandsworth, is a journalist and screenwriter, and is one of Texas’ best-known writers. He is the Executive Editor of Texas Monthly magazine, and also writes for Glamour magazine...	"Still Life"	Texas Monthly Texas Monthly Texas Monthly is a monthly American magazine headquartered in Austin, Texas. Texas Monthly is published by Emmis Publishing, L.P. and was founded in 1973 by Michael R. Levy, Texas Monthly chronicles life in contemporary Texas, writing on politics, the environment, industry, and education...
2009	David Lipsky David Lipsky David Lipsky is an American author. He graduated from Stuyvesant High School in 1983 and Brown University in 1987, and holds an M.A. in Creative Writing from Johns Hopkins University. Lipsky is a contributing editor at Rolling Stone Magazine. He received a National Magazine Award for writing about...	"The Lost Years and Last Days of David Foster Wallace"	Rolling Stone Rolling Stone Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
2008	Paige Williams	"You Have Thousands of Angels Around You"	Atlanta Atlanta (magazine) Atlanta is an award-winning monthly general-interest magazine based in Atlanta, Georgia and owned by Emmis Publishing, a division of Emmis Communications...
2007	Vanessa Grigoriadis Vanessa Grigoriadis Vanessa Maia Grigoriadis is an American journalist.A writer for Rolling Stone and for New York Magazine, she received the National Magazine Award in 2007 in profile writing. She was nominated in 2008 for feature writing, as well. The National Magazine Award is the industry's highest honor...	"Karl Lagerfeld, Boy Prince of Fashion"	New York New York (magazine) New York is a weekly magazine principally concerned with the life, culture, politics, and style of New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to The New Yorker, it was brasher and less polite than that magazine, and established itself as a cradle of New...
2006	Robert Kurson Robert Kurson Robert Kurson is an American author, best known for his 2004 bestselling book, Shadow Divers, the true story of two Americans who discover a World War II German U-boat sunk 60 miles off the coast of New Jersey....	"Into the Light"	Esquire Esquire (magazine) Esquire is a men's magazine, published in the U.S. by the Hearst Corporation. Founded in 1932, it flourished during the Great Depression under the guidance of founder and editor Arnold Gingrich.-History:...
2005	Ian Parker Ian Parker Ian Parker is a Scottish keyboard player.He showed a natural ability to play the piano from a very early age. He started piano lessons when he was seven. His early influences were The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Stax and Atlantic Soul...	"The Gift"	The New Yorker The New Yorker The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
2004	Bill Zehme	"The Confessions of Bob Greene"	Esquire Esquire (magazine) Esquire is a men's magazine, published in the U.S. by the Hearst Corporation. Founded in 1932, it flourished during the Great Depression under the guidance of founder and editor Arnold Gingrich.-History:...
2003	Gary Smith	"Lying In Wait"	Sports Illustrated Sports Illustrated Sports Illustrated is an American sports media company owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. Its self titled magazine has over 3.5 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men. It was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the...
2002	Ken Auletta Ken Auletta Ken Auletta is an American writer, journalist and media critic for The New Yorker.-Early life and education:Auletta grew up in Brooklyn, the son of an Italian-American father and a Jewish-American mother...	"The Lost Tycoon"	The New Yorker The New Yorker The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...

Reviews and criticism

Date	Name	Article	Magazine
2011	John Jeremiah Sullivan John Jeremiah Sullivan John Jeremiah Sullivan is an American writer and editor. He is a contributing writer to The New York Times Magazine, a contributing editor of Harper's Magazine, and southern editor of The Paris Review.-Biography:...	"Mr. Lytle: An Essay"	The Paris Review
2010	Elizabeth Kolbert Elizabeth Kolbert Elizabeth Kolbert is an American journalist and author. She is best known for her 2006 book Field Notes from a Catastrophe, and as an observer and commentator on environmentalism for The New Yorker magazine.-Youth and education:...	"Green Like Me" (Aug. 31), "Flesh of Your Flesh" (Nov. 9), "Hosed" (Nov. 16)	The New Yorker The New Yorker The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
2009	James Wood James Wood (critic) James Wood is a literary critic, essayist and novelist. he is Professor of the Practice of Literary Criticism at Harvard University and a staff writer at The New Yorker magazine.-Background and education:...	"Say What?" (Apr. 7), "The Homecoming" (Sep. 8), "Wounder and Wounded" (Dec. 1)	The New Yorker The New Yorker The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
2008	Caitlin Flanagan Caitlin Flanagan Caitlin Flanagan is an American writer and social critic. She is a former staff writer for The New Yorker and a contributing editor and book reviewer at The Atlantic Monthly...	"The Sanguine Sex" (May), "Babes in the Woods" (Jul./Aug.), "No Girlfriend of Mine" (Nov.)	The Atlantic Monthly The Atlantic Monthly The Atlantic is an American magazine founded in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1857. It was created as a literary and cultural commentary magazine. It quickly achieved a national reputation, which it held for more than a century. It was important for recognizing and publishing new writers and poets,...
2007	Stuart Klawans Stuart Klawans Stuart Klawans has been the film critic for The Nation since 1988. He won the 2007 National Magazine Award for Reviews and Criticism and he received a 2003 Guggenheim Fellowship to work on a critical study of Preston Sturges...	"Down These Mean Streets" (Oct. 23), "The Tracks of My Tears" (Nov. 20), "Coming to America!" (Dec. 4)	The Nation The Nation The Nation is the oldest continuously published weekly magazine in the United States. The periodical, devoted to politics and culture, is self-described as "the flagship of the left." Founded on July 6, 1865, It is published by The Nation Company, L.P., at 33 Irving Place, New York City.The Nation...
2006	Wyatt Mason Wyatt Mason -Background and education:Mason was raised in Manhattan. He attended The Fieldston School in New York, the University of Pennsylvania, and also studied literature at Columbia University and the University of Paris.-Career:...	"Make it Newish" (May), "A World Unto Himself" (Jul.), "White Knees" (Oct.)	Harper's Magazine Harper's Magazine Harper's Magazine is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts, with a generally left-wing perspective. It is the second-oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the U.S. . The current editor is Ellen Rosenbush, who replaced Roger Hodge in January 2010...
2005	Adam Gopnik Adam Gopnik Adam Gopnik, is an American writer, essayist and commentator. He is best known as a staff writer for The New Yorker—to which he has contributed non-fiction, fiction, memoir and criticism—and as the author of the essay collection Paris to the Moon, an account of five years that Gopnik, his wife...	"Times Regained" (Mar. 22), "The Big One" (Aug. 23), "Will Power" (Sep. 13)	The New Yorker The New Yorker The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
2004	Tom Carson	"Increasingly Berserk Developments" (Jan.), "Back to the Terminator" (Aug.), "Mr. Uncongeniality" (Dec.)	Esquire Esquire (magazine) Esquire is a men's magazine, published in the U.S. by the Hearst Corporation. Founded in 1932, it flourished during the Great Depression under the guidance of founder and editor Arnold Gingrich.-History:...
2003	James Wolcott James Wolcott James Wolcott is an American journalist, known for his critique of contemporary media. Wolcott is the cultural critic for Vanity Fair and contributes to The New Yorker. He also writes a blog....	"Terror on the Dotted Line" (Jan.), "U.S. Confidential" (June), "The Penance of Pirates" (Oct.)	Vanity Fair Vanity Fair (magazine) Vanity Fair is a magazine of pop culture, fashion, and current affairs published by Condé Nast. The present Vanity Fair has been published since 1983 and there have been editions for four European countries as well as the U.S. edition. This revived the title which had ceased publication in 1935...
2002	Lee Siegel	"Seize the Day" (Mar.), "The Second Coming of Richard Yates" (July), "Cold Verities" (Oct.)	Harper's Magazine Harper's Magazine Harper's Magazine is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts, with a generally left-wing perspective. It is the second-oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the U.S. . The current editor is Ellen Rosenbush, who replaced Roger Hodge in January 2010...
2001	Anthony Lane Anthony Lane Anthony Lane is a film critic for The New Yorker magazine.-Personal life:Lane lives in Cambridge with Allison Pearson, a British writer and former Daily Mail columnist...	"The Maria Problem" (Feb. 14), "The Eye of the Land" (Mar. 13), "The Light Side of the Moon" (Apr. 10)	The New Yorker The New Yorker The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
2000	Tom Carson	"And the Leni Riefenstahl Award for Rabid Nationalism Goes to…" (March), "The Gospel According to Homer" (July), "The Last Great Movie of the Century" (Oct.)	Esquire Esquire (magazine) Esquire is a men's magazine, published in the U.S. by the Hearst Corporation. Founded in 1932, it flourished during the Great Depression under the guidance of founder and editor Arnold Gingrich.-History:...

External links

• Official website
• NMA Searchable Database