2012 National Magazine Awards Winners

  1. Paper Tigers [Essays and Criticism] Wesley Yang • New YorkWhat becomes of Asian-American overachievers after the test-taking ends?

  2. Joplin! [Feature Writing]Luke Dittrich • EsquireThe stories of two dozen strangers who survived the Joplin, Mo., tornado by hiding in a walk-in beer cooler.

  3. Italian America [Leisure] John Mariani • SaveurItalian immigrants took pride in feeding their families sumptuously.

  4. The Secret That Kills Four Women a Day [Personal Service] Liz Brody • GlamourWhy is relationship violence still so frighteningly common in 2011?

  5. Barrett Brown is Anonymous [Profile Writing]Tim Rogers • D MagazineOn the young man who helped overthrow the government of Tunisia from a Dallas apartment.

  6. The Invisible Army [Public Interest] Sarah Stillman • New YorkerFor foreign workers on U.S. bases in Iraq and Afghanistan, war can be hell.

  7. The Apostate [Reporting] Lawrence Wright • New YorkerA screenwriter flees Scientology.

2012 National Magazine Awards Finalists: Reporting

  1. Our Man in Kandahar (Matthieu Aikins, The Atlantic)On a 33-year-old warlord’s past deeds.

  2. What Happened To Mitrice Richardson? (Mike Kessler, Los AngelesSearching for answers after the mysterious death of a young woman.

  3. The Apostate (by Lawrence Wright, New Yorker) A screenwriter flees Scientology.

  4. Getting Bin Laden (Nicholas Schmidle, The New Yorker) What happened that night in Abbottabad.

  5. Echoes from a Distant Battlefield (Mark Bowden, Vanity FairThe battle of Wanat, seen from three perspectives: a dead soldier, his father, and his commander.

2012 National Magazine Awards Finalists: Profile Writing

  1. Game of Her Life (Tim Crothers, ESPN the Magazine) For 14-year-old chess progidy Phiona Mutesi, chess is a lifeline

  2. The Blind Man Who Taught Himself How to See (Michael Finkel, Men's Journal) Daniel Kish has been sightless since he was a year old. Yet he can mountain bike. How?

  3. Dewayne Dedmon's Leap Of Faith (Chris Ballard, Sports Illustrated)A young basketball player's choice between his mother’s faith and his own heart.

  4. Barrett Brown is Anonymous (Tim Rogers, D Magazine)On the young man who helped overthrow the government of Tunisia from a Dallas apartment.

2012 National Magazine Awards Finalists: Public Interest

  1. Direct Fail (Natasha Gardner, 5280) Colorado’s policy of sending kids to adult court.

  2. Tiny Little Laws (Kathy Dobie, Harper's) A plague of sexual violence in Indian country.

  3. The Big Business of Breast Cancer (Lea Goldman, Marie Claire) Inside a $6 billion-a-year industry.

  4. The Invisible Army(Sarah Stillman, New Yorker For foreign workers on U.S. bases in Iraq and Afghanistan, war can be hell.

2012 National Magazine Awards Finalists: Feature Writing

  1. "Heavenly Father" (by Luke Dittrich, Esquire) The stories of two dozen strangers who survived the Joplin, Mo., tornado by hiding in a walk-in beer cooler.

  2. The Man Who Sailed His House (Michael Paterniti, GQ) Two days after the Japanese tsunami, after the waves had left their destruction, as rescue workers searched the ruins, news came of an almost surreal survival: Miles out at sea, a

  3. You Blow My Mind, Hey Mickey (John Jeremiah Sullivan, New York Times Magazine) A journey to Disney World with kids and weed.

  4. A Murder Foretold (David Grann, New Yorker) In Guatemala, unravelling the ultimate political conspiracy.

  5. Arms and the Dudes (Guy Lawson, Rolling Stone)How two American kids became big time weapons dealers.

The 2011 National Magazine Award Winners

As announced last night. Click here for the full list of nominees.

  1. Personal Service: I Want My Prostate Back (Laurence Roy Stains, Men’s Health)

  2. Public Interest: Letting Go (Atul Gawande, New Yorker)

  3. Reporting: The Guantánamo ‘Suicides’ (Scott Horton, Harper’s)

  4. Feature Writing: The End (Ben Ehrenreich, Los Angeles)

  5. Profile Writing: The Man the White House Wakes Up To (Mark Leibovich, NYT Magazine)

  6. Essays and Criticism: Mister Lytle: An Essay(John Jeremiah Sullivan, The Paris Review)

2011 National Magazine Awards Finalists: Feature Writing

As announced today.

  1. The Wrong Man (David Freed, The Atlantic)On the man wrongfully accused of the 2001 anthrax attacks.

  2. The Suicide Catcher (Michael Paterniti, GQ)On the angel who saves jumpers on an infamous bridge in China.

  3. The End (Ben Ehrenreich, Los Angeles)Death in L.A. can be an odd undertaking.

  4. The Mark of a Masterpiece (David Grann, New Yorker)The man who keeps finding famous fingerprints on uncelebrated works of art.

  5. For Us Surrender Is Out of the Question(Mac McClelland, Mother Jones)The young men who risk life and limb to document Burma’s genocide.

2011 National Magazine Awards Finalists: Reporting

As announced today.

  1. The Guantánamo “Suicides” (Scott Horton, Harper’s)A Camp Delta sergeant blows the whistle.

  2. Is Yemen the Next Afghanistan?(Robert F. Worth, NYT Magazine)

  3. Covert Operations (Jane Mayer, New Yorker)The billionaire Koch brothers’ war against Obama

  4. The Runaway General (Michael Hastings, Rolling Stone)The profile that got Stanley McChrystal fired

  5. Digging Out (Elliot D. Woods, VQR)Afghans’ best hope for their future might be right under their feet.

2011 National Magazine Awards Finalists: Public Interest

As announced today.

  1. “God Help You, You’re on Dialysis”(Robin Fields, ProPublica)Why do one in four people on dialysis die?

  2. Letting Go (Atul Gawande, New Yorker)What should medicine do when it can’t save your life?

  3. What’s the Catch? (Bruce Barcott, On Earth)Sustainable fishing in the Bering Sea.

  4. Innocence Lost (Pamela Colloff, Texas Monthly)The story of Anthony Graves, an innocent man behind bars for nearly 20 years.

  5. Innocence Found (Pamela Colloff, Texas Monthly)How Anthony Graves found freedom.