''Geist'' is a Canadian literary magazine published quarterly since 1990. The magazine takes its name from the
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany, the country of the Germans and German things
**Germania (Roman era)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
word
geist
''Geist'' () is a German noun with a significant degree of importance in German philosophy. ''Geist'' can be roughly translated into three English meanings: ghost (as in the supernatural entity), spirit (as in the Holy Spirit), and mind or int ...
(meaning "mind" or "spirit").
''Geist'' was co-founded in 1990 by Stephen Osborne and Mary Schendlinger in their living room, with financing of just $7,500. On April 20, 2015, ''Geist'' announced that Osborne and Schendlinger would be stepping down and staff members Michał Kozłowski and AnnMarie MacKinnon would be taking over.
The magazine is known in part for its series of Canadian
map
A map is a symbolic depiction of interrelationships, commonly spatial, between things within a space. A map may be annotated with text and graphics. Like any graphic, a map may be fixed to paper or other durable media, or may be displayed on ...
s (e.g. "Canadian placenames that sound impolite," "The Beer Map of Canada," etc.) and for spearheading various campaigns, such as petitions to have folk singer
Stan Rogers
Stanley Allison Rogers (November 29, 1949 – June 2, 1983) was a Canadian folk musician and songwriter who sang traditional-sounding songs frequently inspired by Canadian history and the working people's daily lives, especially from the fishin ...
inducted into the
Canadian Music Hall of Fame
The Canadian Music Hall of Fame was established in 1978 by the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) to honour Canadian musicians for their lifetime achievements in music. The award presentation is held each year as part of th ...
and the ''Geist Annual Literal Literary Postcard Contest''.
''Geist'' has received numerous award nominations, including National Magazine Awards in 2010 and 2017. It won the 2017 Gold Medal for Photojournalism & Photo Essay for Terence Byrnes' ''South of Buck Creek''. In 2019 ''Geist'' was nominated for two
National Magazine Awards
The National Magazine Awards, also known as the Ellie Awards, honor print and digital publications that consistently demonstrate superior execution of editorial objectives, innovative techniques, noteworthy enterprise and imaginative design. Or ...
in the Personal Journalism and Column categories. Lisa Bird-Wilson won the Silver Column award for "Clowns, Cakes, Canoes: This is Canada?" Geist has been featured in the
Utne Reader
''Utne Reader'' (also known as ''Utne''; , ) is a digital digest that collects and reprints articles on politics, culture, and the environment, generally from alternative media sources including journals, newsletters, weeklies, zines, music, and ...
Miriam Toews
Miriam Toews (; born 1964) is a Canadian writer and author of nine books, including '' A Complicated Kindness'' (2004), '' All My Puny Sorrows'' (2014), and '' Women Talking'' (2018). She has won a number of literary prizes including the Governo ...
*
David Albahari
David Albahari (, ; 15 March 1948 – 30 July 2023) was a Serbian writer. Albahari wrote mainly novels and short stories in the Serbian language. He was also an established translator from English into Serbian language, Serbian. He was a member of ...
*
Alberto Manguel
Alberto Manguel (born March 13, 1948, in Buenos Aires) is an Argentine Canadian, Argentine-Canadian anthologist, translator, essayist, novelist, editor, and a former director of the National Library of Argentina. He is a cosmopolitan and polyglo ...
Sheila Heti
Sheila Heti (; born 25 December 1976) is a Canadian writer.
Early life
Sheila Heti was born on 25 December 1976 in Toronto. Her parents are Hungarian Jewish immigrants. Her brother is comedian David Heti.
Sheila Heti attended St. Clement's ...
Evelyn Lau
Evelyn Lau (; born July 2, 1971) is a Canadian novelist, poet, and short story writer.
Biography
Evelyn Lau was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, on July 2, 1971, to Chinese-Canadian parents from Hong Kong. Lau attended Templeton Secondary ...
Annabel Lyon
Annabel Lyon (born 1971) is a Canadian novelist and short-story writer. She has published two collections of short fiction, two young adult novels, and two adult historical novels, ''The Golden Mean'' and its sequel, ''The Sweet Girl''.
Life and ...