This past June, the North of Ordinary Media team went to Charlotte, North Carolina, for the International Regional Magazine Association’s annual conference and gala, where YNoO brought home seven awards. 

Local photographer Sonny Parker won gold for his winter 2023 photo essay on the Dall’s sheep of Kluane. The cover of that issue also won gold for best cover. Mark Koepke, YNoO podcast co-producer, snagged a silver medal for his story, “Built to Last,” on the heritage homes of Whitehorse.

YNoO also received four merit awards, three of which were for stories that appeared in our spring 2023 issue. Rhiannon Russell, our regular business writer, placed in the category of nature and environment for her piece, “Looking After the Land Together,” about blending First Nations and western knowledge to care for the environment. Chris Tse (who wrote the environmental piece in this issue) was given a merit award in the recreation category for “A Place Where Everyone Belongs,” a story about queer folks, people of colour, and immigrants claiming space in the outdoors. Haley Ritchie also scored a merit award for “It’s Hot up Here,” a piece about northern writers who set their romance novels in the Yukon and Alaska. Finally, Manu Keggenhoff, publisher, creative director, and photographer, won a merit award for photographer of the year. 

The strength of YNoO relies wholly on the strength of our contributors and we are pleased to see them recognized by IRMA.

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    Miche Genest

    Boreal Gourmet

    Miche is the author of two northern cookbooks: "The Boreal Gourmet" and "The Boreal Feast, A Culinary Journey Through the North." She also co-authored the books "Cold Spell: Cocktails and Savouries for a Northern Winter" and "Add Light and Stir: Cocktails and Savouries for a Northern Summer." Miche lives, cooks, and writes in Whitehorse.

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    Peter Mather

    Contributing Photographer

    Peter Mather received a gold award in the photographer of the year category from the International Regional Magazine Association (Ottawa 2022) and won a bronze award in the photo series category  for "City of Foxes," a photo essay that ran in our summer 2021 issue.

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    Rhiannon Russel

    Contributor, Editor of YNoO's "Business Briefs"

    Rhiannon received a gold award in the general feature category from the International Regional Magazine Association (Ottawa 2022) for "Hands-on hunting in -40C," which ran in our spring 2021 issue. Additionally, she received a bronze award in the nature and environment category for "Nocturnal in the land of the midnight sun," (Winter issue 2021) and a bronze award in …