It was a good night for incumbents at the 27th annual Western Magazine Awards, with repeat winners in five of the seven magazine of the year categories. Vancouver Magazine was once again named top book for all of Western Canada and also held on to its title in the BC/Yukon category, as did Border Crossings (Manitoba), Blackflash (Saskatchwean), and Enterprise (trade magazine). The recently suspended Unlimited, last year's Best New Magazine, was named Alberta's Magazine of the Year and also picked up two golds in writing categories.

The awards were given out on Friday at the Renaissance Vancover Hotel Harbourside.

Shelley Youngblut, editor of the Calgary weekly Swerve, was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award.

"I have always been a magazine person," Youngblut said upon acceptance of her award.

"Thank you to the Calgary Herald, which has enabled the Swerve team to present an original, heartfelt, smart, funny, unpredictable, relentlessly local magazine every week for the past five years. It's weird and wonderful to be its editor."

Calgary writer Chris Koentges won two more writing awards for a memoir of his mother Helen published in Swerve last year. The piece also won Koentges two golds at this year's National Magazine Awards.

Click here for the full list of winners and nominees.

Stayed tuned to Masthead for photos from this year's gala, as well as reports about what went down at the Magazines West conference.