STRANGER COLE’S ROOTS RECORDS SHOP

“Stranger pushed us to take reggae further.”

paperNicholas JenningsApril 27, 2021toronto, kensington, hide-title

GLOBAL CHEESE

“The world is a hard place. Cheese says, don’t be so serious.”

paperMichael WinterApril 23, 2021toronto, kensington, hide-title

JOEY IN THE MARKET

“I remember Joey, gentle, towering, bending down to pet a sidewalk cat as if he were a tree in a storybook leaning over to rescue a child.”

paperDave BidiniApril 21, 2021toronto, kensington, hide-title

THE KURT OF KENSINGTON IN 4045 DAYS

An illustrated memoir of Kensington between 1991 and 2004 by Kurt Swinghammer. Included is a compilation of songs written and recorded by Kurt Swinghammer during his time living in time in the Market.

paperKurt SwinghammerApril 16, 2021comic, toronto

MYST MILANO HAS A PLAN

The West End rapper spent the lockdown on a wild musical ride, digging through virtual crates, fuelling inspiration and building community from home.

paperErin Ashley LowersApril 5, 2021toronto

IN OKAN'S KITCHEN

Elizabeth Rodriguez left Cuba for a freer life in Toronto; she came to make music but stayed for Magdelys Savigne. The two met in a band here, fell in love, then formed their own group – the Latin jazz ensemble OKAN, whose second album, Espiral, was released during the pandemic. Now they’re waiting out the virus at home – cooking, teaching, preparing for virtual award shows and still making beautiful music together.

paperIvy KnightMarch 26, 2021toronto, food, recipe, kitchen

WRESTLESS HEARTS

In pre-pandemic times, many performers in Toronto’s thriving professional wrestling industry were doing two to four events a week for sold-out crowds in venues like The Great Hall, the Tranzac and 3030 Dundas West. For them, wrestling is more than just a sport or a form of entertainment: it’s a creative outlet, a tight-knit community and the organizing principle of their lives.

paperEmma HealeyMarch 15, 2021toronto

A PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST MID-PANDEMIC

Simone Schmidt wrote their newest album, due out this spring, long before COVID hit, but the tracks are prescient: “It’s about this moment of feeling like you’re on the brink of collapse, and then collapse comes”.

paperSamantha EdwardsMarch 3, 2021toronto

IN LEN'S KITCHEN

Toronto’s restaurant industry had problems well before the pandemic hit. But if there’s hope, says Len Senater, who runs the collective kitchen Depanneur, it’s in a new style of business that puts people ahead of profits.

paperIvy KnightDecember 19, 2020toronto, food, recipe, kitchen

TORONTO THE JUST

Our city – like all cities – was built on racial injustice. Here are seven Torontonians on how we can begin to undo that harm.

paperSamantha EdwardsDecember 12, 2020toronto

LORD OF THE RINKS

It wouldn’t take much to make Toronto the outdoor skating capital of Canada. Here’s Ian Merringer’s take on where to start.

paperIan MerringerDecember 12, 2020toronto

ONE FACTORY TO FUEL US ALL

The pandemic has shown us how a lack of control over our supply chain could have big (and small) or serious (or merely irritating) consequences. So let’s say we build a factory of our own here in the West End, to crank out the one thing we need most, no matter what’s happening globally. What exactly should it be that comes rattling down its line?

paperJesse LockeDecember 12, 2020toronto

"THIS IS WHERE MY PEOPLE ARE"

While the City of Toronto struggles in its fight against homelessness, a group of volunteers is banding together with the residents of the encampments, building trust and gathering what’s needed to keep their community safe. One of those volunteers, writer Jesse Locke, shares an on-the-ground perspective.

paperJesse LockeDecember 1, 2020toronto

WHEN RACISM MAKES PEOPLE SICK

In Toronto’s northwest corner, a web of systemic factors—from poverty to employment patterns—put the neighbourhood’s most vulnerable residents at higher risk for contracting the novel coronavirus.

paperEternity MartisNovember 24, 2020toronto

THOUGHTS ON GOD

But this is what I mean... God is supposed to watch over us, but it's like he saw how happy we were and decided it was GAME OVER!! But I still have to go to church every Sunday and pretend I am cool with the dude... RUDE... Just Rude...

paperLido PimientaNovember 11, 2020

The Americans

Interviews from Americans living in Toronto and the west end express how their lives have been affected both here and back home. Accompanied by photos taken by Joan Latchford in the 60s/70s of the first wave of draft dodgers.

paperWest End PhoenixOctober 30, 2020

IN ASHA'S KITCHEN

“The kind of leader a young Somali kid needs.” That’s how a friend describes Asha Ahmed, whose restaurant, Wiff – the heart of Weston’s main strip – is facing eviction.

paperIvy KnightOctober 28, 2020toronto, food, recipe, kitchen

NEWS, PAPER, SCISSORS: MAKING ART FROM THE DAILY PRESS

Last year, while plans to create the West End Phoenix were afoot, Dave Bidini happened upon an exhibit by artist Erika DeFreitas, at the Angell Gallery on Dupont Street, that included scissored obituaries coated in beeswax.

paperDave BidiniAugust 28, 2020toronto

GHOSTED: EXHIBITION STADIUM

A lot of guys called Exhibition Stadium “Exorcism Stadium” and made fun of it, but for me, it was always home. I used to drive through the city with Josh, my oldest boy, and whenever he saw the stadium he would shout, “Baseball, baseball, baseball!”

paperJesse BarfieldAugust 21, 2020toronto

HIGHWAY TO HEAVEN

As the choir starts singing and the congregation of the Church of Jesus Christ, dressed entirely in white formal wear, rises in prayer, it strikes me that I’ve heard this glorious sound before, long ago, in the voice of my grandmother Balmy.

paperMelayna WilliamsAugust 14, 2020toronto