Traverse, Northern Michigan's Magazine was named best magazine by the year by the International Regional Magazine Association (IRMA).

The publication, owned and published by Deborah Wyatt Fellows of East Leland, won accolades for editorial and design and competed against 45 eligible publications, many with larger circulations. The IRMA competition was for magazines with circulations of up to 40,000.

Six articles entered by the Traverse staff won IRMA awards. Editor Jeff Smith, a Cedar-area resident, won a silver award for And Then There Were None, an environmental feature that appeared in August. Managing editor Elizabeth Edwards of Glen Arbor won a silver award for a travel feature entitled Archipelago of the Gods, which also appeared in August. Four other articles were honored.

Fellows began the magazine in 1981 and leads a staff of 27 full-time employees who produce several publications in print and online.