As 2009 unfolded and the corporate media became preoccupied with teabags, talking heads, and cataloguing their own decline, the alternative press put together another jaw-dropping year. On our pages, the year began with a story from the Walrus about the perils of mining in Bolivia and ended with a collection of buoyant excerpts about reimagining capitalism.
Our editorial team was especially impressed by how relentlessly focused the 1,300 periodicals in the Utne Reader library were on deep reportage and mesmeric storytelling. Week after week, we had the privilege of poring over pieces on everything from prison and immigration reform to sustainable sushi and the significance of singing.
The following nominees for the 21st annual Utne Independent Press Awards represent the very best of the best of what we read in 2009. The winners in each category will be announced in Washington, D.C., during the Magazine Publishers of America’s Independent Magazine Group conference (April 25-26) and published in our July-August 2010 issue.
General Excellence
The American Prospect
Audubon
The Chronicle of Higher Education
High Country News
Miller-McCune
Orion
Virginia Quarterly Review
Washington Monthly
Best Writing
The American Scholar
Bookforum
Boston Review
Columbia Journalism Review
Geist
Hip Mama
Tin House
Witness
Political Coverage
The American Prospect
Mother Jones
Ms.
The Nation
The New Republic
The Progressive
The Texas Observer
Washington Monthly
Social/Cultural Coverage
Bitch
Brain, Child
The Brooklyn Rail
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Hyphen
Intelligence Report
make/shift
Urbanite
International Coverage
Middle East Report
NACLA Report on the Americas
New Internationalist
New Statesman
Peace Review
PEN America
Virginia Quarterly Review
The Walrus
Arts Coverage
American Craft
The Believer
Bidoun
Creative Review
Esopus
Film Comment
The Journal of Music
Poets & Writers
Environmental Coverage
Alternatives Journal
Audubon
Conservation
Earth Island Journal
Environment
High Country News
OnEarth
Orion
Health/Wellness Coverage
Chronogram
Landscape Architecture
New Mobility
On Wisconsin
POZ
Psychotherapy Networker
Spirituality & Health
Yes!
Science/Tech Coverage
California
IEEE Spectrum
Johns Hopkins Public Health
Make
Miller-McCune
Science News
Stanford
Technology Review
Spiritual Coverage
Commonweal
Geez
Lilith
Portland
Resurgence
Shambhala Sun
Sojourners
Tricycle
Magazines published by our parent company, Ogden Publications, includingMother Earth NewsandNatural Home, were not eligible for this awards process.
View the2010 UIPA press release.
