The finalists for the 2015 Alberta Magazine Showcase Awards have been announced. More than 50 volunteer judges, all experts from across North America, combed through almost 300 editorial and design entries, in order to choose the best representatives for each of the 15 categories. Gold and Silver award winners will be honoured at the awards gala on March, 5 in Calgary. The deadline to purchase tickets is Feb. 19, and early bird tickets can be purchased before Feb. 12.  Achievement Award winners will be announced on Feb. 11.

And the finalists are:

Alberta Story

• Alberta Venture Fare Trade - Max Fawcett
• Alberta Views Game Changer  - Arno Kopecky
• Swerve Clap for the Wolverine Man - Michael Hingston
• Swerve She Got Game - Marcello Di Cintio
• Swerve The Fixture and the Hipster - Jeremy Klaszus

Art Direction Single Issue

• Alberta Venture June 2014 - Kim Larsen, art director
• Avenue Edmonton November 2014 - Pete Nguyen, art director
• Georgie Issue No 3 W14 – Nathan Marshall, art director; Neil Mota and Aaron Pedersen photographers
• New Trail Winter - Marcey Andrews, art director
• Western Living October Issue - Paul Roelofs, art director; Naomi MacDougall associate art director, Jenny Reed, assistant art director

Cover

• Avenue Edmonton Stephen Mandel - Curtis Trent, photographer; Pete Nguyen, art director
• Georgie Issue No 2 F14 - Nathan Marshall, art director, Aaron Pedersen, photographer  New Trail Autumn - Marcey Andrews, art director
• Up!Magazine The Food Guide -Jill Foran, editor
• Western Living September - Paul Roelofs, art director; Evaan Kheraj portrait photographer

Digital Presence

• Alberta Oil 10th Anniversary Tablet Edition  - Alberta Oil staff
• Alberta Venture Pipeline Dialogue - Justine Hunter, Dee Hon, Andrew Findlay, Tim Querengesser, Jim Sutherland, Max Fawcett
• Avenue Calgary Avenuecalgary.com - Jaelyn Molyneux, web editor; Karin Olafson, assistant web editor
• New Technology Magazine Multistage Fracking -Maurice Smith, editor; Cath Ozubko, art director; Jeremy Seeman, designer and web
• Oilweek Oilweek Rising Stars -Dale Lunan, editor; Cath Ozubko, art director;  Jeremy Seeman, animation; Christina Borowiecki, designer

Emerging Writer

• Avenue Calgary From Calgary to Calcutta Without a Calendar - Andrew Guilbert
• Avenue Calgary Volunteer Year - Madeline Smith
• Glass Buffalo A Paragraph - Josh Greschner
• Glass Buffalo  A Tale of Two Forms - Peter Takach
• Glass Buffalo On Living: A second draft - Andrew Moore

Essay

• Avenue Edmonton Transporting into the Future - Omar Mouallem
• Freefall Neighbourhood Alzheimers - Bill Bunn
• Swerve Children of a Lesser Santa - Omar Mouallem
• Swerve Mums the Word - Colleen Seto
• Swerve The Gospel of Fire and Mud - Russ Peters

Feature Design

• Alberta Venture Guide to Professional Services - Kim Larsen, art director
• Avenue Edmonton Back in the Game - Pete Nguyen, art director
• New Trail Best Summer Ever - Marcey Andrews, art director
• New Trail Deconstructing Leadership - Marcey Andrews, art director
• New Trail The Face of a Century - Marcey Andrews, art director

Feature Writing

• Alberta Venture Dot -111 - Tony Davis
• Alberta Venture North By Southwest - Russell Webb
• Alberta Views Infectious Fear - Naomi K. Lewis
• Swerve A Bridge too Far - Naomi K. Lewis
• Swerve A Relationship goes Viral - Omar Mouallem

Fiction

• Freefall The Bull of Heaven - Paddy Scott
• Glass Buffalo Pearl - Bruce Cinnamon
• Marker Utility - Caleb Caswell
• On Spec Handcrafting - Anita Dolman
• Prairie Journal The Royal Visit - Vivian Zenari

Illustration

• Avenue Calgary What’s Lost - Jon Krause
• Alberta Venture Call of The Wild - Dushan Milic
• Georgie Neil Young – Stavros Damos
• New Trail Best Summer Ever - Katy Dockrill
• New Trail Deconstructing Leadership- Carl Wiens

Photograph:  Landscape, Still Life and Architecture

• Avenue Calgary Merry Little Christmas- Julya Hajnoczky
• Swerve Current Affairs - Bryce Meyer
• Techlife Well Appointed Workplaces - Blaise van Malsen
• Western Living Steep Seclusion - Martin Tessler
• Westworld Phantoms on Ice - Kurtis Kristianson, Spindrift Photography

Photography: People and Portraiture

• Avenue Calgary Cultural Movement - Jared Sych
• Avenue Calgary Stylish Roots - Phil Crozier
• Alberta Venture Laws of the Land- Joey Podlubny
• Alberta Venture The Fight of their Lives - Curtis Trent
• Georgie Suzuki - Aaron Pedersen

Poetry

• Freefall A Kindness of Bees - Cassy Welburn
• Freefall But I’m No One - Weyman Chan
• Glass Buffalo Frog Lake - Erika Luckert
• Glass Buffalo Mink - Fatima Fayad
• Glass Buffalo What Do I know? - Liam Kay

Profile

• Avenue Calgary Artists Adrift - Shelley Arnusch
• Avenue Edmonton Stephen Mandel - Omar Mouallem
• New Trail Making News - Curtis Gillespie
• New Trail Ray Muzyka’s Next Chapter  - Omar Mouallem
• Swerve The Long Journey of Nathan Phelps - Marcello Di Cintio

Service

• Alberta Venture The Money Book - Max Fawcett
• New Trail Best Summer Ever -Scott Rollans, Lisa Cook, Wanda Vivequin, Karen Sherlock
• Swerve It’s Your Funeral  - Rita Sirignano
• Western Living Ultimate Okanagan - Neal McLennan, Evelynn Takoff, Jim Sutherland
• Westworld Toys of Summer -Kirsten Rodenhizer, EditorDavid Claydon, Art Director, Tracy Hyatt, Associate Managing Editor, Shauna Rudd, Assistant Editor