The Walrus
Encyclopedia
The Walrus is a Canadian general interest magazine
which publishes long form journalism on Canadian and international affairs, along with fiction and poetry by Canadian writers. It launched in September 2003, as an attempt to create a Canadian equivalent to American
magazines such as Harper's, The Atlantic Monthly
or The New Yorker
. The magazine's mandate is "to be a national general interest magazine about Canada and its place in the world. We are committed to publishing the best work by the best writers from Canada and elsewhere on a wide range of topics for readers who are curious about the world." The magazine is published by the charitable, not-for-profit Walrus Foundation, and won the 2006 National Magazine Award for Magazine of the Year in Canada.
, began promoting his vision of a world-class Canadian magazine. This led him to meet with then-Harper's editor Lewis H. Lapham
to discuss creating a "Harper's North," which would combine the American magazine with 40 pages of Canadian content. As Berlin searched for funding to create that content, a mutual friend put him in touch with Ken Alexander, a former high school English and history teacher and then senior producer of CBC Newsworld
's CounterSpin. Like Berlin, Alexander was hoping to found an intelligent Canadian magazine that dealt with world affairs. Before long, the Chawkers Foundation, run by Alexander's family, had agreed to provide the prospective magazine with $5 million over five years, and the George Cedric Metcalf Charitable Foundation promised $150,000 for an internship program. This provided enough money to get by without the partnership with Harper's.
The "walrus
" name was at first a working title, but quickly grew on the staff of the magazine. According to their website, the rationale behind it was "to dissociate this country with the 'log chomping' and 'earnestness' of our national animal (and cliché), the beaver"; the walrus, just as much a Canadian native, is "curmudgeonly but clever, bulky but agile (if only in water)." Most importantly, in the words of David Berlin, "No one ignores a walrus."
Berlin resigned as editor in 2004, and Ken Alexander ended his tumultuous reign as publisher, then editor, in June 2008. John Macfarlane, former editor-in-chief of Toronto Life
and publisher of Saturday Night
, joined The Walrus in July 2008 as editor and co-publisher. With newly returned art director Brian Morgan, Macfarlane oversaw a revamping of the editorial and art direction of the magazine. The new Walrus was to be more consistent and current, with a "far more internally driven" process for story selection, and the reworked cover featuring illustrations that correspond to each issue's content.
The Walrus has received critical acclaim since its launch: its two 2003 issues alone garnered eleven National Magazine Award nominations and three wins, and the Utne Reader awarded it the prize for best new publication in 2004. As of April 2011, it has consistently led in the National Magazine Awards, earning a total of 70 wins and 231 nominations to date.
In the relatively small and geographically dispersed Canadian market, magazines producing long-form journalism have often struggled to stay afloat. Saturday Night, which The Walrus editor John Macfarlane formerly published, lost money continuously despite being a celebrated publication. But as Macfarlane reports, The Walruss charitable model, similar to that of Harper's, is so far sustaining it: donations covered about half of the costs of producing the magazine in 2010, with the traditional revenue streams of circulation and advertising providing the rest. This is all the more important for the magazine because its educational mandate requires that it keep a ratio of no less than 70 percent editorial content to 30 percent advertising.
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...
which publishes long form journalism on Canadian and international affairs, along with fiction and poetry by Canadian writers. It launched in September 2003, as an attempt to create a Canadian equivalent to American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
magazines such as Harper's, 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,...
or 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...
. The magazine's mandate is "to be a national general interest magazine about Canada and its place in the world. We are committed to publishing the best work by the best writers from Canada and elsewhere on a wide range of topics for readers who are curious about the world." The magazine is published by the charitable, not-for-profit Walrus Foundation, and won the 2006 National Magazine Award for Magazine of the Year in Canada.
History
In 2002, David Berlin, a former editor and owner of the Literary Review of CanadaLiterary Review of Canada
The Literary Review of Canada is a Canadian magazine that publishes ten times a year. The magazine publishes essays and reviews of books on political, cultural and social topics, as well as Canadian poetry...
, began promoting his vision of a world-class Canadian magazine. This led him to meet with then-Harper's editor Lewis H. Lapham
Lewis H. Lapham
Lewis H. Lapham is an American writer. He was the editor of the American monthly Harper's Magazine from 1976 until 1981, and from 1983 until 2006. He also is the founder of the eponymous publication about history and literature entitled Lapham's Quarterly. He has written numerous books on...
to discuss creating a "Harper's North," which would combine the American magazine with 40 pages of Canadian content. As Berlin searched for funding to create that content, a mutual friend put him in touch with Ken Alexander, a former high school English and history teacher and then senior producer of CBC Newsworld
CBC Newsworld
CBC News Network is a Canadian English language Category C specialty news channel owned and operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation . It broadcasts into over 10 million homes in Canada. It is the world's third-oldest television service of this nature, after CNN in the United States and...
's CounterSpin. Like Berlin, Alexander was hoping to found an intelligent Canadian magazine that dealt with world affairs. Before long, the Chawkers Foundation, run by Alexander's family, had agreed to provide the prospective magazine with $5 million over five years, and the George Cedric Metcalf Charitable Foundation promised $150,000 for an internship program. This provided enough money to get by without the partnership with Harper's.
The "walrus
Walrus
The walrus is a large flippered marine mammal with a discontinuous circumpolar distribution in the Arctic Ocean and sub-Arctic seas of the Northern Hemisphere. The walrus is the only living species in the Odobenidae family and Odobenus genus. It is subdivided into three subspecies: the Atlantic...
" name was at first a working title, but quickly grew on the staff of the magazine. According to their website, the rationale behind it was "to dissociate this country with the 'log chomping' and 'earnestness' of our national animal (and cliché), the beaver"; the walrus, just as much a Canadian native, is "curmudgeonly but clever, bulky but agile (if only in water)." Most importantly, in the words of David Berlin, "No one ignores a walrus."
Berlin resigned as editor in 2004, and Ken Alexander ended his tumultuous reign as publisher, then editor, in June 2008. John Macfarlane, former editor-in-chief of Toronto Life
Toronto Life
Toronto Life is a monthly Canadian magazine about entertainment, politics and life in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Toronto Life also publishes a number of annual special interest guides about the city, including Home Decor, Stylebook, Eating & Drinking, Real Estate and Weddings. Established in 1966,...
and publisher of Saturday Night
Saturday Night (magazine)
Saturday Night was a Canadian general interest magazine. It was founded in Toronto, Ontario in 1887.The publication was first established as a weekly broadsheet newspaper about public affairs and the arts, which was later expanded into a general interest magazine. The editor, Edmund E. Sheppard,...
, joined The Walrus in July 2008 as editor and co-publisher. With newly returned art director Brian Morgan, Macfarlane oversaw a revamping of the editorial and art direction of the magazine. The new Walrus was to be more consistent and current, with a "far more internally driven" process for story selection, and the reworked cover featuring illustrations that correspond to each issue's content.
The Walrus has received critical acclaim since its launch: its two 2003 issues alone garnered eleven National Magazine Award nominations and three wins, and the Utne Reader awarded it the prize for best new publication in 2004. As of April 2011, it has consistently led in the National Magazine Awards, earning a total of 70 wins and 231 nominations to date.
Finances
Though The Walrus was initially pledged $1 million annually by the Chawkers Foundation for its first five years, it was unable to access this money without first being recognized as a charitable organization by the Canada Revenue Agency. Ken Alexander was forced to support the magazine out of his own pocket until it finally received charitable status in 2005, creating the charitable non-profit Walrus Foundation. In addition to publishing the magazine, the Foundation runs events across Canada, including talks and debates on public policy.In the relatively small and geographically dispersed Canadian market, magazines producing long-form journalism have often struggled to stay afloat. Saturday Night, which The Walrus editor John Macfarlane formerly published, lost money continuously despite being a celebrated publication. But as Macfarlane reports, The Walruss charitable model, similar to that of Harper's, is so far sustaining it: donations covered about half of the costs of producing the magazine in 2010, with the traditional revenue streams of circulation and advertising providing the rest. This is all the more important for the magazine because its educational mandate requires that it keep a ratio of no less than 70 percent editorial content to 30 percent advertising.
Selected contributors
- Marianne AckermanMarianne AckermanMarianne Letitia Ackerman is a Canadian novelist, playwright, and journalist. Piers' Desire, her third and most recent novel, was published in 2010.- Life and career :...
- Michael Adams
- Margaret AtwoodMargaret AtwoodMargaret Eleanor Atwood, is a Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, and environmental activist. She is among the most-honoured authors of fiction in recent history; she is a winner of the Arthur C...
- Joseph BoydenJoseph BoydenJoseph Boyden is a Canadian novelist and short story writer. His first novel, Three Day Road won the Amazon/Books in Canada First Novel Award and the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize...
- Dionne BrandDionne BrandDionne Brand is a Canadian poet, novelist, essayist and documentarian. She was named Toronto's third Poet Laureate in September 2009.-Biography:...
- Joan Bryden
- Edward BurtynskyEdward BurtynskyEdward Burtynsky OC is a Canadian photographer and artist who has achieved international recognition for his large-format photographs of industrial landscapes. His work is housed in more than fifteen major museums including the Guggenheim Museum, the National Gallery of Canada, and the Bibliothèque...
- Deborah Campbell
- Leonard CohenLeonard CohenLeonard Norman Cohen, is a Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, poet and novelist. Cohen published his first book of poetry in Montreal in 1956 and his first novel in 1963. His work often explores religion, isolation, sexuality and interpersonal relationships...
- Douglas CouplandDouglas CouplandDouglas Coupland is a Canadian novelist. His fiction is complemented by recognized works in design and visual art arising from his early formal training. His first novel, the 1991 international bestseller Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture, popularized terms such as McJob and...
- Wendy Dennis
- Charles ForanCharles ForanCharles Foran is a Canadian novelist and non-fiction writer living in Peterborough, Ontario.-Biography:Foran was born in August 1960 in Toronto to a Franco-Ontarian mother and a father from an Ottawa Irish family. He attended Catholic elementary school and Brebeuf College School, a Jesuit high...
- Don Gillmor
- Adam GopnikAdam GopnikAdam 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...
- Ron Graham
- Allan GreggAllan GreggAllan Gregg is a Canadian pollster, political advisor, and pundit.-Early life:Gregg was born in Edmonton, Alberta. He was the eldest child in his family which consisted of four boys and one girl. Gregg graduated from Harry Ainley High School at the second top of his class with honors...
- Susan Harada
- Helen HumphreysHelen HumphreysHelen Humphreys is a Canadian poet and novelist who has written several books. She was born in London, England, and now lives in Kingston, Ontario. When she was younger she was kicked out of high school and had to attend an alternative school to finish her education...
- Pico IyerPico IyerPico Iyer is a British-born essayist and novelist. He is the author of numerous books on travel including Video Night in Kathmandu. His shorter pieces regularly appear in Time, Harper's, NYRB and many other publications.-Life and career:...
- Marni Jackson
- Wayne Johnston
- Mark KingwellMark KingwellMark Gerald Kingwell, M.Litt, M.Phil, PhD, D.F.A. is a Canadian professor of philosophy and associate chair at the University of Toronto's Department of Philosophy. Kingwell is a fellow of Trinity College...
- Eamon Mac Mahon
- J.B. MacKinnonJ.B. MacKinnonJames Bernard MacKinnon, commonly cited as J.B. MacKinnon, is a Canadian independent journalist, contributing editor and book author. Mackinnon is best known for co-authoring with Alisa Smith the bestselling book The 100-Mile Diet: A Year of Local Eating, encouraging readers to focus on local...
- Pasha MallaPasha MallaPasha Malla is a Canadian author.He was born in St. John's, Newfoundland and raised in London, Ontario. He attended Concordia University in Montreal as a graduate student....
- Roger MartinRoger MartinRoger Martin is Dean of the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto and an author of several business books. Martin has originated several important business concepts in use today, including integrative thinking...
- Bruce MauBruce MauBruce Mau is a Canadian designer. Mau is the creative director of Bruce Mau Design, and the founder of the Institute without Boundaries.-Life and career:...
- Bruce McCallBruce McCallBruce McCall is a Canadian author and illustrator, best known for his frequent contributions to The New Yorker.Born and raised in Simcoe, Ontario, Canada, he was fascinated by comic books and showed an early aptitude for drawing fantastical flying machines, blimps, bulbous-nosed muscle cars and...
- Marci McDonaldMarci McDonaldMarci McDonald is a Canadian journalist and author of The Armageddon Factor: The Rise of Christian Nationalism in Canada and Yankee Doodle Dandy: Brian Mulroney and the America Agenda....
- Lisa MooreLisa Moore (writer)Lisa Moore is a Canadian writer.Born in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Moore studied art at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design...
- Hal NiedzvieckiHal NiedzvieckiHal Niedzviecki is a Canadian novelist and cultural critic.Born into a Jewish family, he was raised in Ottawa, Ontario and Potomac, Maryland, did his undergraduate studies at the University of Toronto and his graduate studies at Bard College...
- Graham RoumieuGraham RoumieuGraham Roumieu is a Canadian illustrator based in Toronto, Ontario. He is perhaps best known for his Bigfoot-themed books , but his work has also appeared in publications such as the New York Times, Harper's, and the Wall Street Journal.- Bibliography :*Roumieu,...
- SethSeth (cartoonist)Seth is the pen name of Gregory Gallant , a Canadian comic book artist and writer. He is best known for comics such as Palookaville.Born in Clinton, Ontario, Seth attended the Ontario College of Art in Toronto...
- Lana Šlezić
- Adam Sternbergh
- Jillian Tamaki
- Timothy TaylorTimothy Taylor (writer)Timothy Taylor is a Canadian novelist and short story writer. The Blue Light Project, his most recent novel, was published in 2011....
- Miriam ToewsMiriam ToewsMiriam Toews is a Canadian writer of Mennonite descent. She grew up in Steinbach, Manitoba and has lived in Montreal and London, before settling in Winnipeg, Manitoba. She moved to Toronto in 2009....
- Larry TowellLarry TowellLarry Towell is a Canadian photographer, poet, and oral historian.Towell grew up in a large family in rural Ontario and studied visual arts at York University in Toronto where his interest in photography first began...
- Chris TurnerChris Turner (author)Chris Turner is a Canadian author. He is the author of Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece Documented an Era and Defined a Generation, published in 2004...
- John VaillantJohn VaillantJohn Vaillant is a non-fiction author and journalist who was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts and has lived in Vancouver for the past thirteen years. His first book, The Golden Spruce, won the 2005 Governor General's Award for Non-Fiction and the Writers' Trust Non-Fiction Prize...
- Michael Winter
- Johan Hallberg-Campbell