About Maisonneuve

Maisonneuve

Maisonneuve is an English-language general-interest quarterly magazine based in Montreal, Quebec, publishing eclectic stories of national and international scope on the arts, culture, and politics. Founded in 2002 by Derek Webster and named after Paul de Chomedey de Maisonneuve, the founder of Montreal, it is an award-winning not-for-profit quarterly focused on arts, opinion, and ideas. Its mandate, in its own words, is "to dissolve artistic borders between regions, countries, languages, and genres." The magazine reached its 100th issue in the summer of 2026 — a milestone its editor-in-chief Aysha White described as a small miracle for any independent print magazine.

Overview

Maisonneuve publishes long-form narrative journalism, essays, memoir, reporting, humour, comics, photo essays, and visual art, bringing together distinctive writing and striking illustration in each quarterly issue. It is deliberately eclectic: a single issue might move from an investigation of Canada's public sector to a portrait of campus radio, from the history of basketball in Montreal to dispatches from abroad. The magazine's stories explore issues beyond the daily news cycle, and its 100th issue — themed around Canada's shrinking public sector — carried more long-form stories than a typical number.

The magazine has won many awards for its writing, covers, illustration, and photojournalism. It was named Magazine of the Year at the National Magazine Awards in 2005, 2012, and 2016, Small Magazine of the Year at the Editors' Choice Awards in 2006, and Newsstand Magazine of the Year at the Canadian Newsstand Awards in 2007, among many honours for individual features. It is privately owned and published by the Maisonneuve Magazine Association as a not-for-profit title.

History

Derek Webster established Maisonneuve in 2002 in Montreal, naming it for the city's 17th-century founder. The magazine arrived as a national high-end general-interest publication and quickly made its mark: within two years it had been nominated for 14 National Magazine Awards, winning four, including Magazine of the Year in 2005. In 2006, the magazine announced a new focus on Montreal city life and culture beginning that September — a revamp aimed at English-speaking Montrealers passionate about their city, with a youthful, urban, sophisticated readership. At the time, its circulation was reported at 10,000, all paid, with total readership estimated at 240,000; the revamp projected circulation of 30,000 including 20,000 paid.

Over the following two decades, Maisonneuve settled into its enduring identity as an independent quarterly of arts, opinion, and ideas with national and international scope, while remaining rooted in Montreal. Drew Nelles served as editor-in-chief through an important stretch of that history; his last issue at the helm was Fall 2013, No. 49, before he moved to New York, and Haley Cullingham — previously associate editor and a freelance writer — succeeded him, with Eric Andrew-Gee stepping in as associate editor. Subsequent editors have included Nour Abi-Nakhoul, and the current editor-in-chief is Aysha White, who first discovered the magazine when she moved to Montreal about a decade ago and has described being part of its continuing story as a surreal experience. White has spoken of the magazine's enduring success as something she is grateful to be part of, crediting the many people who worked at Maisonneuve through the years and their shared care for independent journalism and the power of print.

The magazine's longevity is itself the story: more than two decades of independent publishing, through the collapse of print advertising and the digital transformation of media, sustained by subscriptions, newsstand sales, and a loyal readership. The release of the 100th issue in the summer of 2026 was covered as a landmark for Canadian independent magazines — in an era when readers spend hours scrolling on phones, Maisonneuve continues to invite them to slow down with print.

Content

Maisonneuve primarily considers long-form narrative journalism and visual art. Its non-fiction includes essays, memoirs, reporting, and humour; it also publishes one-to-two-page comics, photo essays, and artist portfolios for illustration assignments. The magazine does not accept unsolicited fiction or poetry, and it prefers well-developed, well-researched pitches over drafts — though it will consider drafts from authors open to working with the editorial team. Published reports on its submission terms have cited payment of around $0.15 per word.

The magazine's features are known for taking the long view: investigations and narratives that unfold over thousands of words, paired with commissioned illustration and photography. Topics range across arts and culture, politics, urban life, media, and ideas — from the uncertain futures of campus radio stations across Canada (a winter-issue feature on the sector that the magazine un-paywalled when the University of Ottawa's CHUO station faced shutdown) to the history of basketball in Montreal as a lens on race, language, and class in a hockey-dominated province. The eclecticism is the point: the magazine's mandate is to dissolve borders between regions, countries, languages, and genres.

Each quarterly issue is built as a curated object — long reads balanced with shorter pieces, comics, and visual portfolios — designed to reward unhurried reading. The magazine's art direction has been central to its identity from the start, and its covers and illustrations have earned repeated National Magazine Awards recognition alongside its writing and photojournalism.

Coverage & Audience

Maisonneuve is a national magazine with a Montreal base, distributed across Canada by subscription and newsstand and read digitally through its website. Its readers have historically skewed young, urban, and culturally engaged — early audience research described them as primarily between 25 and 39, living in large urban centres, split evenly between men and women, with more than half earning over $50,000 a year. The magazine's appeal lies in its independence: as a not-for-profit quarterly without corporate ownership, it can take editorial risks that larger commercial titles avoid.

The magazine's influence extends through its contributors, many of whom have gone on to prominent careers in Canadian journalism and letters, and through its award record, which has made it one of the most decorated small magazines in the country. Its stories are frequently cited and shared in Canadian media conversation, and its un-paywalled features — such as the campus-radio investigation — demonstrate an editorial commitment to public-interest journalism beyond the subscriber base.

Ownership

Maisonneuve is privately owned and published by the Maisonneuve Magazine Association, a not-for-profit organization based in Montreal, Quebec. Founder Derek Webster established the title in 2002; subsequent editors-in-chief have included Drew Nelles, Haley Cullingham, Nour Abi-Nakhoul, and the current editor, Aysha White. The association structure keeps the magazine independent of corporate media ownership.

Digital Presence

The magazine's website, maisonneuve.org, publishes articles from current and past issues, submission guidelines, subscription information, and news about the magazine. Its social media presence includes Instagram and a LinkedIn page; its X/Twitter account (@maisonneuvemag) notes that it is no longer regularly updated, directing followers to Instagram and LinkedIn instead. The magazine's history, award record, and editorial transitions are documented in its Wikipedia entry, in industry press such as Masthead Online and Media in Canada, and in recent coverage of its 100th issue — coverage that framed the milestone as a testament to the enduring power of independent print. For writers, the site's submission guidelines remain the front door: pitches for long-form narrative journalism and visual art portfolios are welcomed, with response times of up to three months reflecting the volume of submissions a magazine of this profile receives.