The Walrus

Overview

The Walrus is an independent, nonprofit Canadian media organization publishing a general-interest magazine eight times a year alongside daily online content covering current affairs, fiction, poetry and podcasts. It operates as a registered charity through the Walrus Foundation, running the national Walrus Talks speaker series and training programs for emerging journalists and nonprofit publishing professionals.

History

The Walrus originated in 2002 when David Berlin, a former editor and owner of the Literary Review of Canada, began developing plans for a world-class Canadian general-interest magazine, at one point discussing a joint venture with then-Harper's editor Lewis H. Lapham. Berlin partnered with Ken Alexander, a former teacher and senior producer at CBC Newsworld, and secured a pledge of $5 million over five years from the Chawkers Foundation, run by Alexander's family, along with $150,000 from the George Cedric Metcalf Charitable Foundation for an internship program. The Alexander family initially had to fund the magazine out of pocket because the Chawkers pledge could not be accessed until the magazine achieved charitable status, which it received in 2005 with the creation of the Walrus Foundation. The magazine launched in September 2003. Berlin resigned as editor in 2004; Alexander stepped down as editor in 2008 and was succeeded by John Macfarlane, former editor-in-chief of Toronto Life and publisher of Saturday Night. Editor Jessica Johnson resigned in February 2023 and was succeeded on an interim basis by Carmine Starnino, a founding editor of Maisonneuve magazine.

Key personnel

Interim Editor-in-Chief: Carmine Starnino

Location and contact info

Address
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Website
https://thewalrus.ca