Boston Wins Huge at Awards Show  

You’ll forgive us for feeling proud as punch, but we’re pretty excited around here. On Monday, June 5 in Baltimore, the City and Regional Magazine Association (CRMA), which is made up of magazines like Boston in cities all across the country, held its annual conference honoring the best work published in 2022. And we did well. Really well. Boston magazine won four awards, including the prestigious top honor for General Excellence in the big-boys division of circulation more than 60,000. Deeply deserved congratulations also goes to senior editor Catherine Elton, who individually won two awards: one for best profile and the other for—drumroll please—Writer of the Year. Contributing editor Steve Calechman took home the Herb Lipson Award for Column Excellence.

The annual competition is held in conjunction with the Missouri School of Journalism and honors journalists, design creatives, and staff members at city/regional magazines in 35 categories. Among the 32 publications recognized for their 2022 work, Boston was a finalist in 16 categories. More than 100 judges, from publications ranging from The Atlantic to GQ, The New York Times, Esquire, and Food & Wine Magazine, selected the winners. Some of what they said about us included:

“Judges noted the magazine is ‘a vivid chronicle that balances the joy of its city with trenchant investigative reporting” in which “readers are reminded every month that their city is thriving.” Boston Magazine’s Catherine Elton took home two writing awards. She won Writer of the Year with stories that “showcased deep reporting, rich details and were executed with compassion, style and an elegant mix of authority and vulnerability” and Profile (Circulation more than 60,000) with “Who is Dianne Wilkerson?” Steve Calechman took home the Herb Lipson Award for Column Excellence for well-written columns that are “fun to read as they explore interesting subjects that appeal to a wide variety of readers.’”

Calechman’s winning stories were: “Oodles and Oodles of Doodles”; “The Mascot Who Wouldn’t Disappear”; and “Hold Your Horses,” all of which are, indeed, fun to read. This is the second Writer of Year accolade for Elton, who has now won that particular national award two of the past three years.

“We have an extraordinary editorial team at Boston magazine led by editor Chris Vogel,” said the publication’s chief executive officer Kirk Davis. “On behalf of all employees, we’re thrilled and proud to see our colleagues receive this coveted national prize. The City of Boston is on the move and we’re committed to keeping up!”

Philly magazine, our sister publication and BFFs, also won four awards.

Making magazines is the ultimate team sport, so it’s important to acknowledge everyone at Boston who is involved with bringing home this prestigious hardware. It takes the hard work of not only dedicated and talented print and digital editors, writers, and designers, but also production staff, sales reps, marketing whizzes, and IT pros who make sure our Teams videos don’t crap out on us. And just as important, we want to thank everyone in Greater Boston and New England who subscribes, picks up an issue of the magazine, or clicks on our website—you inspire us every day to fulfill our mission to increase the joy of living in Boston today. And we couldn’t do what we do without you.

Check out the full list of National City and Regional Magazine 2023 Award winners here and our portfolio of winning stories below.

Writer of the Year, Catherine Elton

Profile, Catherine Elton

Herb Lipson Award for Column Excellence, Steve Calechman

• “Oodles and Oodles of Doodles”
• “The Mascot Who Wouldn’t Disappear”
• “Hold Your Horses”