The 2011 National Magazine Awards nominations have been announced, and The Walrus leads the pack with 34 nominations.

The Walrus said this is the sixth straight year it has paced the field with NMA nominations, with nods in the written, online, visual and integrated categories. The Walrus won 2006 Magazine of the Year in the awards, and since its inception the magazine said it has won 53 golds, 27 silvers, and 186 honourable mentions at the annual awards.
"The Walrus is committed to publishing thoughtful content, and is honoured to be able to do so through the work of such talented and dedicated contributors," said a joint statement from Walrus co-publishers John Macfarlane and Shelley Ambrose.

This year's magazine of the year nominees include Maisonneuve, which recently celebrated its 10th anniversary. Its fellow nominees are Outdoor Canada (Cottage Life Media Inc., formerly Quarto Communications) and Sportsnet (Rogers).

Digital magazine of the year nominees are TheGridTO.com (Torstar), TodaysParent.com (Rogers) and TorontoLife.com (St. Joseph Media).

Also excelling this year is Report on Business with 30 NMA nominations, Toronto Life with 24, L'actualité with 22, and Explore with 19. Maclean's magazine, a Rogers flagship title, received 18 nominations, while The Grid garnered 17 nods.

The awards will be announced at a June 7 gala in Toronto, which will take place the same evening as the KRW Awards (for business titles) this year. The alignment of the two events has garnered some negative comments from those in the B2B publishing industry who lament losing their exclusive evening. Ticket options and prices for June 7 are due to be posted on the NMA and KRW websites this week.

For a full list of the NMA nominees, visit http://www.magazine-awards.com/