UPDATE: Visit the nominees and winners of the 2009 Utne Independent Press Awards.
Every year since 1989, Utne Reader editors have gathered to debate, haggle, cajole, and eventually agree on a list of the year’s best offerings from the alternative press. Unlike most publishing awards, these picks have no nominating process, no entrance fee, no panel of outside experts. It’s just our editorial staff, immersed all year in hundreds of quirky publications, arguing for their favorites. The result is an eclectic list of magazines, tabloids, zines, journals, and newsletters we think you might like to get to know better. We’d also like to hear from you about your favorites. Give us your picks at www.utne.com, where you can also find descriptions and ordering information for these publications.
General Excellence Magazines
American Scholar
Audubon
Mother Jones
Orion
Prospect
Punk Planet
Transition
Local/Regional Coverage
Austin Chronicle
Chicago Reporter
City Limits
Gambit Weekly
High Country News
Kyoto Journal
LA Weekly
Nashville Scene
Seattle Weekly
The Stranger
Street Spirit
Texas Journal
The Village Voice
International Coverage
Index on Censorship
New Internationalist
Outpost
Prospect
Third World Resurgence
Transition
Personal Life Coverage
Bark
Car Busters
Conscious Choice
Designer Builder
Herbs for Health
In the Family
Mountainfreak
Natural Home
General Excellence
Zines
Broken Pencil
East Village Inky
Guinea Pig Zero
h2s04
Hip Mama
Infiltration
The Match
Punk Planet
Snowbound
Wussy Boy Chronicles
Political/Social Coverage
American Prospect
Boston Review
ColorLines
Dissent
Governing
Mother Jones
Ms.
The Nation
The New Rules
The Progressive
Reporting Excellence
Audubon
Earth Island Journal
High Country News
Lingua Franca
Mother Jones
New Scientist
Urban Ecology
Cultural CoverageAdbusters
Bitch
Chronicles
Geist
Punk Planet
Shift
Speak
Stay Free
General Excellence
Newsletters
Batteries Not Included
Business Ethics
Counterpunch
Hightower Lowdown
Progressive Review
Ram’s Horn
Religion Watch
Rock & Rap Confidential
Writing Excellence
American Scholar
Audubon
Creative Nonfiction
Fourth Genre
Georgia Review
Hudson Review
Michigan Quarterly Review
Mother Jones
Orion
Prospect
Science/Environment Coverage
Audubon
E Magazine
Earth Island Journal
The Ecologist
Green Futures
Living Bird
New Scientist
Orion
Spiritual Coverage
Crone Chronicles
Image
Lilith
Shambhala Sun
Tricycle
Turning Wheel
General Excellence
Design
Adbusters
All Round
Bust
Common Ground (Washington, D.C.)
DoubleTake
Emerge
Fortean Times
Orion
Shift
Troika
Arts & Literature Coverage
American Prospect
Artbyte
Austin Chronicle
Cineaste
Hudson Review
LIMN
Metropolis
Musicworks
Rain Taxi
The Village Voice
New Paradigm/Emerging Culture Coverage
Lapis
Parabola
Resurgence
Whole Earth
Yes! A Journal of Positive Futures
Best New Title
Alice
Brain, Child
Clamor
Here
To-Do List
