The Walrus Leads National Magazine Awards

Moved and grateful. That’s how I feel about our extraordinary showing at the National Magazine Awards this year and how wide the recognition runs—25 nominations across genres, formats, categories, and editorial approaches. The Walrus is a collective effort: editors, writers, fact checkers, designers, illustrators, production, events, and partnerships. For the last few years, we have been pushing each other to rethink what our journalism can be and who it can speak to, and much of that experimentation and audacity has been recognized here. I’m really humbled by this team and what we’re building together.

Thank you to all our readers and supporters. And congratulations to all the nominees.

—Carmine Starnino, Editor-in-Chief

• Best Branded Content Collaboration: From Exclusion to Equality: Twenty-Five Years Since Bill C‑23.

• Long-Form Feature Writing (6000+): “What Was Left Unsaid in the Hockey Canada Trial” by Ariella Garmaise. Editor: Dafna Izenberg; and fact checker: Hailey Choi.

• Long-Form Feature Writing: “Swarm” by Inori Roy. Editor: Dafna Izenberg; illustrator: Alexandra Newbould; and fact checker: Amarah Hasham-Steele.

• Long-Form Feature Writing: “Zakaria Amara’s Second Chance” by Michelle Shephard. Editor: Carmine Starnino; photographer: Arthur Dennyson Hamdani; and fact checker: Filipa Pajevic.

• Long-Form Feature Writing: “Rebuilding Syria” by Samia Madwar. Editor: Carmine Starnino; photographer: Saeed Salha; fact checker: Maya ElHawary; head of research: Ally Baker; art direction: Zoya Shepherd; copy editor: Siddhesh Inamdar; and digital editor: Monika Warzecha.

• Feature Writing: “Afghanistan’s Lost Generation” by Soraya Amiri and Samia Madwar. Editor: Siddhesh Inamdar; translator: Said Najib Asil; and fact checker: Hailey Choi.

• Feature Writing: “Greenland’s Resistance” by Laakkuluk Williamson. Editor: Samia Madwar; art: Ningiukulu Teevee; fact checker: Lucy Uprichard; art direction: Ana Luisa Ortega Juarez; copy editor: Siddhesh Inamdar; and digital editor: Monika Warzecha.

• Essays: “Publishing’s Gambling Problem” by Tajja Isen. Editor: Carine Abouseif; illustrator: Ana Luisa Ortega Juarez; and fact checker: Amarah Hasham-Steele.

• Essays: “A Son, a Scientist, and the Secret of Bioluminescence” by Arno Kopecky. Editor: Harley Rustad; illustrator: Julieta Caballero; and fact checker: Mashal Butt.

• Investigative Reporting: “What Happens after a Death on Campus” by Jadine Ngan and Tahmeed Shafiq. Editor: Carine Abouseif; and fact checkers Arthur Dennyson Hamdani and Maya ElHawary.

• Investigative Reporting: “Legal Challenge” by Julie Sobowale. Editor: Carine Abouseif; illustrator: Ashley Floréal; and fact checker Arthur Dennyson Hamdani.

• Fiction: “The Miraculous Return of Khalid from the Dead” by Danny Ramadan. Editor: Siddhesh Inamdar; and illustrator: Raz Latif.

• Fiction: “Forest Hill Gothic” by Cassidy McFadzean. Editor: Dafna Izenberg; and illustrator: Anna Teolis.

• Personal Journalism: “A Son, a Scientist, and the Secret of Bioluminescence” by Arno Kopecky. Editor: Harley Rustad; illustrator: Julieta Caballero; and fact checker: Mashal Butt.

• Personal Journalism: “GI Joe” by Lisa Gregoire. Editor: Samia Madwar; illustrator: Stephen P. Hughes; and fact checker: Emma Wilkie.

• Personal Journalism: “Paper Trail” by Timothy Taylor. Editors: Carmine Starnino and Dafna Izenberg; illustrator: Ana Luisa Ortega Juarez; and fact checker: Mihika Agarwal.

• Poetry: “Night Office” by Richard Greene.

• Profiles: “Rage Against the Publishing Machine” by Thea Lim. Editor: Carmine Starnino; fact checker: Maya ElHawary; and copy editor: Siddhesh Inamdar.

• Illustration: “The Strange Case of Monsieur Perron” illustrated by Pete Ryan. Art director: Zoya Shepherd; writer: Sarah Treleaven; editor: Dafna Izenberg; and fact checker: Hailey Choi.

• Illustration: “Painting in Pixels” illustrated by James Lee Chiahan. Art director: Zoya Shepherd; writer: Tatum Dooley; editor: Ariella Garmaise; and fact checker: Filipa Pajevic.

• Illustration: “GI Joe” illustrated by Stephen P. Hughes. Art director: Meredith Holigroski; writer: Lisa Gregoire; editor: Samia Madwar; and fact checker: Emma Wilkie.

• Illustration: “Legal Challenge” illustrated by Ashley Floréal. Art director: Zoya Shepherd; writer: Julie Sobowale; editor: Carine Abouseif; and fact checker: Arthur Dennyson Hamdani.

• Photo Essay & Photojournalism: “Should the Arctic Really Brace for an Invasion?” by Pat Kane. Photography: Pat Kane; art director: Zoya Shepherd; editor: Samia Madwar; and fact checker: Lucy Uprichard.

• Best Cover: How to Save Canada. Illustrator: Adam Maida; art director: Zoya Shepherd; writer: Wesley Wark; and fact checker: Filipa Pajevic.

• Best Issue: November 2025. Editor-in-chief: Carmine Starnino.