''Alberta Views'' (also ''AlbertaViews'') is a

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

regional

magazine A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), content forms. Magazines are generally fin ...

, established in 1997, that covers political, social and cultural issues in the

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

of Alberta. It is published 10 times annually and its monthly print run was 15,000 copies by 2016. Its monthly readership in 2016 was 76,000. ''Alberta Views'' was named Canadian Magazine of the Year at the 2009 National Magazine Awards. John Ralston Saul has called ''Alberta Views'' "the new model for what a magazine can be in Canada."

History

''Alberta Views'' was first published in January 1998 as a

quarterly A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), content forms. Magazines are generally fin ...

. Since 2006, the magazine has published 10 issues a year. The founding publisher is Jackie Flanagan, a Calgary college educator, novelist and philanthropist. In a speech at the 2009 NMAs, Flanagan said she founded ''Alberta Views'' to counter provincial stereotypes. "Many eastern media turned to

Ted Byfield Edward Bartlett Byfield (10 July 1928 – 23 December 2021) was a Canadian conservatism in Canada, conservative teacher, journalist, historian, and publisher. He co-founded ''Saint John's Cathedral Boys' School'' and ''Saint John's School of Al ...

when they wanted to hear the views of Albertans. And as a third-generation Albertan, I was concerned because he did not reflect the opinions of any Albertan I knew. And if ''Alberta Views'' has done anything to correct the false image that my province has in the rest of the country, I am very grateful."

Tagline and orientation

''Alberta Views'' originally used the

tagline In entertainment, a tagline (alternatively spelled tag line) is a short text which serves to clarify a thought for, or is designed with a form of, dramatic effect. Many tagline slogans are reiterated phrases associated with an individual, so ...

"The Magazine about Alberta for Albertans," and, later, "Leading the Political, Cultural and Social Debate" and "A Forum for Dialogue." The magazine's tagline in 2016 is "New Perspectives for Engaged Citizens." ''Alberta Views'' does not endorse a political party. ''Alberta Views'' is not to be confused with ''

Alberta Report The ''Alberta Report'' was a conservative weekly newsmagazine based in Edmonton. It was founded and edited by Ted Byfield, and later run by his son, Link Byfield. It ceased publication in 2003. Promoting his own Western Standard, successor publ ...

'', a defunct right-of-centre magazine based in

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

, Alberta, founded by

Departments

The magazine publishes three long-form (3,000+ word) stories every issue as well as original short fiction and essays. ''Alberta Views'' departments include columns by

Governor General's Award The Governor General's Awards are a collection of annual awards presented by the governor general of Canada, recognizing distinction in numerous academic, artistic, and social fields. The first award was conceived and inaugurated in 1937 by the ...

and

Giller Prize The Giller Prize (known as the Scotiabank Giller Prize from 2005-2023) is a literary award given to a Canadian author of a novel or short story collection published in English (including translation) the previous year, after an annual juried co ...

-nominated author Fred Stenson ("Wit") and former Banff National Park superintendent Kevin Van Tighem ("This Land"), book reviews, arts listings, a ministerial profile ("Meet the Minister"), community profiles and "Eye on Alberta," a mix of news stories, blog posts, speeches and poems from across the province and country.

Notable contributors

Past contributors to ''Alberta Views'' have included notable journalists, magazine writers, essayists, artists, academics and politicians including Katherine Ashenburg, Todd Babiak, Karen Connelly, Marcello Di Cintio, Will Ferguson, Curtis Gillespie —co-founder of '' Eighteen Bridges'' magazine,

Katherine Govier Katherine Mary Govier (born July 4, 1948) is a Canadian novelist and essayist. Biography Katherine Govier was born in Edmonton, Alberta, and was educated at the University of Alberta and York University. She has been made a Distinguished Alumna ...

, Alex Himelfarb, Greg Hollingshead,

Jay Ingram Jay Ingram Order of Canada, CM (born March 20, 1945) is a Canadian author, broadcaster and science communicator. He was host of the television show ''Daily Planet (TV series), Daily Planet'' (originally titled ''@discovery.ca''), which aired on ...

, Robert Kroetsch, Sid Marty,

Linda McQuaig Linda Joy McQuaig (born September 1951) is a Canadian journalist, columnist, author and social critic. She worked as a reporter investigating the Patti Starr affair. She wrote books and newspaper columns focusing on corporate influence in econ ...

, Omar Mouallem, Andrew Nikiforuk, John Ralston Saul, Paula Simons—a long-time writer for the ''

Edmonton Journal The ''Edmonton Journal'' is a daily newspaper published in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It is part of the Postmedia Network. History The ''Journal'' was founded in 1903 by three local businessmen — John Macpherson, Arthur Moore and J.W. Cunn ...

'', Kevin Taft, Chris Turner, Andrew Unger, Aritha van Herk, Thomas Wharton, and Rudy Wiebe.

Awards

In addition to being named Canadian Magazine of the Year (2008) at the National Magazine Awards, ''Alberta Views'' has won numerous individual NMAs, Alberta Magazine Awards and Western Magazine Awards including Best Magazine (2005), an '' Utne'' magazine Independent Press award for local/regional coverage (2007) and the 2004 Alberta Mental Health Board award.Alberta Views
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Reviews

Ezra Levant described the magazine as "an artsy liberal magazine" in 2010.

References

External links

* {{Official website, http://www.albertaviews.ca/ 1997 establishments in Alberta Alternative magazines Cultural magazines published in Canada Magazines established in 1997 Magazines published in Alberta Mass media in Calgary Political magazines published in Canada Ten times annually magazines