Geez (magazine)

The founder of Geez magazine, Aiden Enns, originally had the idea of the magazine in 2003 while he was working as managing editor at Adbusters in Vancouver. Enns then moved to Winnipeg and recruited writer and activist Will Braun who came on board as co-editor and co-publisher.

The first issue of Geez was published in Fall 2005 with an initial 500 paying subscribers and no advertising revenue. In the first year, the number of subscribers climbed to 2,000.

In 2009, Geez moved its hub from Enns' home to a community-minded church in Winnipeg's inner-city (Knox United Church).

In 2010, Geez celebrated its 5th anniversary. At the time, Darin Barney, the Canadian Research Chair in Technology and Citizenship said, Geez is one of the "smartest kind of progressive, critical, lefty magazines."[4]

From the beginning, the aim of Geez was to "put the 'geez' into Jesus."[5] A religious magazine for a new generation of Christians and post-Christians, the up-and-coming magazine wanted a short, provocative name that risked offending more conservative readers. Some consider the name blasphemous because it is an expletive derived from the name of Jesus.[6]

In 2019, Geez relocated to Detroit, Michigan.[7]

Geez has garnered many awards: 2007: Magazine of the Year Award, from Canada's Western Magazine Awards.[8]

2008: First Place for General Excellence from Canadian Church Press.

2010: Best in Class from Associated Church Press.

2009: A.C Forrest Memorial Award from Canadian Church Press for "socially conscious religious journalism" for Will Braun's investigative article, "Can I get an Amen? Mega-sermons in a hurting world." [9]

2009: Best Spiritual Coverage from Unte Independent Press Awards.[10]

2011: First Place for Service Journalism from Canadian Church Press.[11]

2013: Five awards from Canadian Church Press, including top honors for best poetry, original illustration, layout and design of an issue, and photography.[12]

2020: Eight awards of recognition from the Associated Church Press, including: Award of Merit for Best in Class for National/International Magazine; Award of Excellence for theme issue (Geez 54: Climate Justice); Award of Excellence for interview (with Siwatu-Salama Ra in Geez 53: Mothering); Award of Merit for personal experience (article by Lucia Wylie-Eggert in Geez 53: Mothering); Honourable Mention for editorial (by Lydia Wylie-Kellermann in Geez 54: Climate Justice); Honourable Mention for letters to the editor; Honourable mention for photography (in Geez 54: Climate Justice); Honourable Mention for podcast/audio series (Geez Out Loud).

In addition to a large feature section, Geez has several different sections: Culturosities (arts and culture), Experiments, Civil Disobedience, Reviews, Feministry, updates from Christian Peacemaker Teams, the Catholic Worker movement, and highlights from the LGBTQ community.

In 2006, Mary Hynes from CBC Radio Tapestry did a feature interview with Aiden Enns and Will Braun.

In July 2007, the National Post called the presentation of the magazine "intriguing".[13]

Geez is a "unique combination of satire, critique, social consciousness, and just plain quirkiness," Brenda Suderman, August 2007, the Winnipeg Free Press.[14]

"Restless questioning gives the magazine it's edgy tone," Caley Moore, November 2007, The United Church Observer.[15]

"In each quarterly issue of Geez, people of faith are invited to challenge structures of power and embody joyful alternatives," Christina Crook, January 2008, BC Christian News.[16]

The magazine is an "exasperated exclamation derived from Jesus' name that some Christians consider to be blasphemous," Julia Duin, July 2009, The Washington Times.[17]

In 2010, Michael Enright from The Sunday Edition interviewed Aiden Enns.

"Readers were so in love with the cheeky, contrarian 'post-Christian' quarterly that many were paying more than the annual $35 subscription to ensure its survival," Leslie Scrivener, January 2011, The Toronto Star.[18]

"It pokes, piques and prods Christians, and the unconverted among its readers to lie out the revolutionary values of Jesus in a consumer-driven, post-modern, materialist world," Nancy Haught, The Portland Oregonian, April 2006.[19]

"A stylish magazine in the tradition of Adbusters and Mother Jones . . . a surprisingly hip, bold take on Christianity," Gloria Kim, Maclean's, January 2005.[20]

"The magazine tries to ask questions that we normally don't ask . . . They take the work they're doing seriously. But they don't take themselves all that seriously," Bill Phipps, as quoted in United Church Observer, November 2007.[21]

Geez pushes "the edge of respectability in a subversive, ecological, visionary way," Douglas Todd, Vancouver Sun, March 2007.[22]

"Shows no signs of disappearing," Lauren Parsons, The Uniter, December 2010.[23]

"Geez is very good at opening minds to creative ways of seeing the world and pursuing social justice," Samantha Rideout, January 2011, United Church Observer.[24]

• Official website
• Geez on Facebook
• Geez on Twitter