AlbertaViews, a small, independent magazine based in Calgary beat out a small, indepedent magazine based in Toronto (Spacing) and a large, corporately owned Toronto title (Canadian Business) to win magazine of the year honours at the 32nd annual National Magazine Awards gala, held Friday (in Toronto). "AlbertaViews is defining what idea-driven and socially driven magazines should be," said the three-judge panel who selected the winner.

Founded in 1998, the 10-times-a-year magazine is no stranger to accolades, having been named best Alberta magazine at the 2008 Western Magazine Awards.

The magazine of the year category was sponsored by a collective of past NMAF presidents, while a group of content creators and a group of magazine ad reps sponsored two other categories.

Paul Jones, the self-described "wily old publisher," got the crowd laughing with anecdotes about his experience as a freelance writer (unlike those in the Canadian Writers Group, he'd kill for a dollar a word) and did a fine job of keeping the night moving.

Among the top winners on the night were usual suspects such as The Walrus (five gold and one silver) Toronto Life (four gold and five silver), EnRoute (two gold and three silver) and Report on Business (two gold). Resource-challenged books such as Explore (four gold and two silver), Swerve (two gold and two silver) and Malahat Review (two gold and two silver) also had a grand night.

Well-known and well-respected writer, fact-checker, copy editor and teacher Cynthia Brouse was honoured with the foundation award for outstanding achievement and accepted the award with a typically graceful speech, dedicating her award in part to the "behind the scenes" editorial people who make magazines click. (Cynthia has posted the speech to her blog.)

Click here for a full list of winners.

More NMAs coverage:

• AlbertaViews wins magazine of the year at National Magazine Awards [Canadian Magazines]
• AlbertaViews blazes trail by taking top prize [Toronto Star]
• The Walrus is golden at magazine awards [Globe and Mail]
• AlbertaViews, Calgary writer win big at National Magazine Awards [CBC]