Each month, we feature award winning National and Alberta Magazine Award writing from some of the country's best writers and storytellers. This month we feature the 2015 AMPA Gold winning article It's Your Funeral by Rita Sirignano and the 2014 NMA Gold winner for personal journalism, Save Me from My Workout by Lauren McKeon. AMPA Award WinnerYear: 2015Award: Gold, ServiceWriter: Rita SirignanoBio: Rita Sirignano has been a contributing writing at the Calgary Herald and Swerve since 2004. Winner: It's Your Funeral - Swerve In It's Your Funeral, Sirignano addresses the reality many of us choose to ignore: at some point, all lives come to an end. However, more of us than ever before are coming to terms with our deaths in advance and are pre-planning our own funerals. Sirignano walks readers through this trend and offers helpful information on making plans for when you won't be around to see them through. NMA Award WinnerYear: 2014Award: Gold - Personal JournalismWriter: Lauren McKeonBio: Lauren McKeon has been the editor of This magazine since 2011. Before that, she worked as a reporter, editor and writer in the Arctic for several years, living in Yellowknife and travelling Canada's territories and northern Alberta to write about everything from prisons to the Peel Valley. Her work has most recently appeared in Toronto Life, Flare and the Walrus. Winner: Save Me from My Workout - Toronto LifeWhen Lauren McKeon shattered her leg and dislocated her ankle during a CrossFit workout, many thought she'd be crazy to go back. But throughout months of recovery, all she could think about was getting back in the gym. In this personal account, McKeon writes about the worldwide craze that is CrossFit - a highly controversial regime that is about so much more than exercise.
