Masthead
Hamutal Dotan
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Hamutal was born at Mount Sinai, raised by the lake, and studied at U of T, but didn’t realize how much Toronto was part of her until she left to live in other cities. Having returned after grad school Hamutal began writing about everything from architecture to farmers’ markets, which makes her either a Renaissance woman or a dilettante, depending on your point of view. She is also the City Hall commenter for CBC Radio’s Metro Morning. Tutorials on the pronunciation of her name are gladly provided upon request.
Steve Kupferman
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Steve came to Toronto from the States in 2007, to earn a degree in library science from the University of Toronto. By the time he’d realized that librarianship was a suffering profession, dying under the combined pressure of public underinvestment and changing technology, he’d become interested in journalism, a suffering profession dying under the combined pressure of declining ad sales and changing technology. He has written for the National Post, the Grid, and many other fine print publications and websites. He joined Torontoist in 2009.
Jamie Bradburn
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Jamie has wandered the back alleys of Toronto past and present for the past decade and has only gotten lost a few times (but has lost count of how many side trips he’s taken along the way). He figures exploring the city and its past is a way to know his surroundings better and justify his history minor in university. He has also discovered his camera has fused itself to his hand, which is great for snapping pictures but lousy for most physical tasks. Besides Torontoist, his other online outposts include a blog and a photostream.
Chris Dart
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Chris Dart is a Toronto-based journalist. He has written about everything from development and demonstrations to hip-hop and mixed martial arts. His byline has appeared in a variety of outlets, including the Globe and Mail, National Post, Grid, TheScore.com, and Spinner.ca. Prior to writing full-time, he spent several years in broadcasting. He’s also worked at a number of jobs that involved pushing a mop around. He grew up in the wilds of Scarborough, but now lives downtown.
Carly Maga
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Believe it or not, when Carly Maga moved from the cultural hotspot of suburban Ottawa to Toronto in 2006, she had a serious case of the starry-eyes. Now, through the ups and downs of any long-term relationship, the infatuation has evolved into a deep and meaningful appreciation. Her journalism degree coupled with a constant need of being entertained has resulted in her writing/tweeting/talking/living theatre and the arts from Toronto to New York City for publications like the Globe and Mail, Grid, Torontoist, OpenFile, and Toronto Standard. When not at a play or writing about a play, she’s covering the celebrity news everyone needs to know on Yahoo! OMG! or TV for BeyondtheGuide.com.
Corbin Smith
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“Corbin Smith is a director, creator, builder, visionary, boundary-pusher, professional photographer, and documentarian (among other things.) Most of all, Corbin Smith is a storyteller… He has been quietly racking up major photography awards, most notably with Applied Arts and CAPIC, and is positioned to become one of Canada’s top creative professionals.” Someone once wrote that flattering commendation. As for what I have to say for myself, well: I’m deeply in love with Canada, I think Toronto is pretty nifty, and I hope Toronto thinks I’m nifty too.
Laura Godfrey
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Laura grew up in the bustling suburb of Brampton, but after graduating with a BA in English from York University and a diploma in journalism from Centennial College, she finally found herself a cozy apartment in Toronto to share with her cat. She has completed magazine internships at Outpost, MastheadOnline, and Quill & Quire, and is currently the associate director of Bookclub-in-a-Box and a part-time freelancer. Her friends are afraid to send her casual emails, since she spends much of her free time distinguishing between en dashes and em dashes while wearing her “Bad grammar makes me [sic]” T-shirt.
Michelle Melski
Michelle has a BA in Arts and Contemporary Studies from Ryerson University and is currently working as a publicist at Fitzhenry and Whiteside publishers. She moved from small-town Woodstock, Ontario to Toronto over six years ago and hasn’t looked back since. She’s a lover of fiction, sour patch kids, and spends a lot of time with her cat and dog.
Steve Fisher
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Halifax born, Ottawa-raised, and firmly Toronto-located, Steve has been writing about this city’s performing arts scenes for over a decade. His past experiences studying and performing in theatre, light opera, and improv comedy (plus a obsessive taste for indie rock and roll) have lead to his contributing to A.V. Club, CBC Music, the Grid, and more. Now a full time arts writer and critic, when not seeing five to six shows a week Steve spends his “free time” working with the Royal Canadian Naval Reserves; as a Leading Seaman, he’s been commended and decorated.
Senning Luk
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Senning grew up north of Finch and under FTP swaps where the forks of the upper Don and the branches of the Linux kernel worked their way in to his blood. Graduating from high school in the Torontopia age, he left the steel girders of engineering for the city lights of urban studies. A freelance web designer for NGOs and green businesses since 2008, he now plays in the space between them.
Todd Aalgaard
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Todd Aalgaard is an Islander of B.C. extraction, but threw a dart at the map in 1999 and ended up in Toronto. After studying anthropology at York University, he became a writer, musician, freelance journalist, web-ordained minister, and that guy who’s not around enough but will totally buy you a drink once he gets paid. Having appeared in places like MONDOmagazine and Momentum, Todd’s friends and family best describe him as “tall.” Get him drunk enough and he’ll probably write a song about you.
Kyle Bachan
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Kyle Bachan is a menace to society. When he’s not fulfilling this role, he’s spreading his written word as far as the eye can see. Gender Across Borders, Ms., and Huffington Post all play host to his interest in gender related issues while Torontoist allows him to explore the ever-changing aspects of the city he was born in.
Sarah-Joyce Battersby
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Sarah-Joyce was born in Dublin, moved to North York, raised all around the GTA, schooled in western Ontario and did some galivanting in Quebec. But Toronto pulled off what she once thought impossible: held her interest. She writes about politics, radio regulations, cycling, and anything else she’s curious about. And, yes, please say the “Joyce,” or her grandmother will get mad at you.
Graeme Bayliss
Graeme is a writer living in the Summerhill neighbourhood of Toronto. He moved there from Ajax to study at the University of Toronto, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in English. He is currently working towards a master’s degree in journalism at Ryerson University, delaying his entry into the real world by a further two years. Graeme is a fan of Christopher Hitchens, the Toronto Maple Leafs, and the British Empire.
Christopher Bird
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The Explosively Talented Christopher Bird (or the ETCB to his family and friends) has worked in no particular order as a filmmaker, waiter, administrative assistant, script doctor, freelance writer, freelance character assassin, web monkey, teaching assistant and hobo who dances for quarters. He is presently an associate lawyer at the Gene C. Colman Complex Family Law Centre, so Shakespeare wants you to kill him first. Everything he writes that The Man won’t allow you to read on Torontoist can be found at mightygodking.com.
Ed Brown
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With the realization that he lacked the necessary pluck required for legitimate work, Edward Brown took to the writing racket in childhood, penning extortion letters and hold-up notes for a neighbourhood thug. With a degree in English Literature, Edward entered the teaching profession (summers off!) but snuck out after third period, never to return. He instead focused on freelance and fiction writing, as well as teaching English as a second language.
A diagnosed technophobe, Edward Brown was the publisher of the defunct satirical ‘zine, The Bottletree. His writing has appeared in the Globe and Mail, Spacing, Broken Pencil, Pilot, as well as other less reputable places. His story collection, Playing Basra, was released in 2008 to uncritical acclaim.
Jessica Buck
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Jessica was born in Scarborough and raised among the green pastures of Aurora, until her career aspirations turned her into one of those dreaded city girls. A self-professed music geek, she spends a lot of late nights and long hours managing festivals and live events across Canada. The rest of her free time is strangely divided between softball and belly dancing. When she’s not Urban Planning for Torontoist, she’s trying to find time for her blog, HearPlugged Music.
Rémi Carreiro
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Rémi is a photographer living in Cabbagetown. Born in Scarborough, raised in Pickering and Toronto, Rémi considers himself lucky to have spent his teen years in the big city. He is currently studying architectural science at Ryerson University and consequently doesn’t get much sleep. After a year or two of being glued to the screen admiring Toronto street photography, in 2007 at 16, he picked up his first camera and still finds it impossible to set the thing down. After five years of venturing around Toronto’s neighbourhoods and parks, he still can’t decide on a favourite spot. When Rémi’s not hunched over a drafting table or in front of a computer you’ll find him shooting for his blog and playing guitar just a bit too loud for his neighbours.
Julian Carrington
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Born in the UK, raised in Barbados, and raised in Toronto some more, Julian is a graduate of U of T’s Faculty of Law, but is currently putting his degree to improbably dubious use. His most sincere academic regret, though, is dropping Cinema Studies 101. Rest assured, he hasn’t allowed that ill-advised decision to deter him from becoming a pretentious, know-it-all film snob. In addition to Torontoist, he contributes to Next Projection, and neglects his blog, A Healthy Disdain.
Harry Choi
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Harry was born in Hong Kong, China, and spent his childhood running up and down a forty-five-storey apartment building with his buddies. At seventeen, he came to Toronto and eventually graduated from the University of Toronto. One day, while punching numbers in a design studio, Harry realized life is much more than debits and credits, so he picked up a camera and couldn’t let go. He has been rediscovering the world through a viewfinder for the past few years and hopes to one day make a difference with images.
Desmond Cole
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Desmond is a former candidate for Toronto city council, a regional winner of the local democracy initiative City Idol. He spent his first several years in the city as a youth worker, then became the project coordinator for I Vote Toronto, a campaign to extend municipal voting rights to non-citizens. Desmond also worked as a community animator at the Centre for Social Innovation. He’s written for the Grid, Ethnic Aisle, Queen’s Park Review, and the Canadian Medical Association Journal.
Terri Coles
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Terri Coles is a Toronto-based writer, editor, and social media nerd. She’s written for Reuters, Chatelaine, Open File, Two Way Monologues, Vegansaurus, and BlogTO, and is an editor at Pawesome.net. She writes about health, food, green issues, local news, cats (she really likes cats), parenting, and local music. She posts too many updates on Facebook. She just had a baby, so of course she’s got a mommy blog.
D.A. Cooper
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D. B. Cooper hijacked a Boeing 727 aircraft in the United States on 24 November 1971, collecting over US $200,000 in ransom before parachuting from the plane, never to be seen again.
D. A. Cooper has never done these things. He is just a regular guy, thus far unchronicled in the annals of history. A Toronto native and avid concertgoer, he graduated from Ryerson University’s Radio & Television Arts program where his interests were redirected toward photography. After doing the 9–5 thing for a while, he is currently taking any and every photographic opportunity that comes his way. Aside from the pure joy of the craft, he has supremely enjoyed getting the chance to mingle and collaborate with some of Toronto’s many passionate and creative individuals.
Chloe Cushman
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Chloe is a freelance illustrator living and working in Toronto. She has a BA in English and contemporary philosophy from the University of King’s College, and has also studied in the Interpretive Illustration program at the Sheridan Institute. You can view Chloe’s portfolio online.
Matthew Daley
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Originally from the wilds of Brampton Ontario, illustrator Matthew Daley now gets a nice view of our fair city from his lofty perch in Liberty Village. As an illustrator his work has appeared in a variety of magazines, on rock posters, and recently in an iPhone app by the Dairy Board of Canada. He thinks you should give his webcomic Mr. Monitor a look when you have the chance. He prefers his weather cold and his coffee on the creamy side. You can find more of his work by pressing on this nice, welcoming link.
Jess Davidson
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Raised on the mean streets of Thornhill, with a few moves to other cities and with many travels in between, Jess Davidson now happily calls Kensington Market home—mostly because she likes to be within arm’s reach to great food, the best coffee in the city, and enough tea to fuel her raging addiction. That is, when her nose isn’t buried in a book (school or otherwise). She hates the term “world class city,” but loves living in one.
David Demchuk
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David Demchuk was born and raised in Winnipeg and now lives in Toronto. A playwright, independent filmmaker, screenwriter, essayist, critic, and journalist, he has been writing for theatre, film, television, radio, print and digital media for thirty years. In 2011, Pinknews.co.uk named him one of the top 25 most influential LGBT people on twitter worldwide.
David Fleischer
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If you Google “David Fleischer” you should know that: first, he is not a Brazilian economics expert; and second, he does not write for The Advocate (not that there’s anything wrong with that!). A native North Yorker, he has written for the National Post and Post City Magazines (no relation) and is a co-founding editor of Afterword, Canada’s national Jewish student newspaper. Really. David writes stories no one has published and once wrote songs and played guitar in a band called Urban Cactus. It featured several people who are now sufficiently successful that it would be pathetic to so much as drop their names.
Daren Foster
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Daren Foster is a failed screenwriter turned avid City Hall watcher. Writing under the name Cityslikr, he and his band of know-it-alls keep themselves busy with a municipal politics blog called All Fired Up in the Big Smoke.
Lodoe-Laura Haines-Wangda
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Lodoe-Laura was born in the nineties, in the much inferior city of Ottawa. At two weeks old, she was sneaked onto an airplane bound for Kathmandu, Nepal, where a wise man told her parents to put a camera in her hands. When not shooting photos for Torontoist, Lodoe-Laura spends her time taking courses in Ryerson University’s Image Arts Program, involving herself in the Tibetan movement, and trying to teach people to pronounce her name correctly.
Casey Irvin
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Casey is a writer, type designer, urbanite, and amateur baker of bread. Sit him down over a drink and he will gladly tell you how much he loves classy puns, an adventurous uppercase Q, complete streets, and drawing designs in crusts. Buy him a couple more drinks and you will doubtlessly hear all about how much he loathes dry technical writing; Gill Sans Ultra Bold; Vernon, BC; and waiting for loaves to rise. Buy him one last drink and he’ll simply tell you how great you are.
Jeremy Kai
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Jeremy Kai has jittery hands. Instead of pursuing a career in dentistry or brain surgery he decided instead to draw and paint stuff (where it’s okay to nourish oneself entirely with coffee). When not hunched over his drawing table, Jeremy engages in unorthodox hobbies and explores all parts of the city through all forms of transportation. He feels that Toronto needs more mythological characteristics and thinks its people should romanticize about their city a little bit more.
Kyra Kendall
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Kyra Kendall is an illustrator that lives and works in the Annex. She has also called Cabbagetown, Clubland and even the gritty streets of Lorne Park home. When not drawing for Torontoist, she is making beautiful fashion dress-up iPhone apps for five-year-olds. Her work has been featured in several illustration anthologies, curated shows, and packaged beauty products sold at your local big box pharmacy. Kyra likes: Colour. Volunteering for worthy causes. Conspiracy theorists. Riding her bicycle the wrong way down one-way streets.
Kelli Korducki
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Kelli Korducki grew up in Milwaukee but has lived in Toronto for long enough to be considered a real Torontonian (or, at least, a convincing imposter) by most. In addition to writing about media, culture, and the fine city of Hogtown, Kelli also pens short stories about wayward women and a blog about food and cultural ephemera. She can often be spotted riding Bea Arthur (her bicycle) around the city’s west end, humming choir tunes and dreaming of soft serve ice cream.
Andrew Louis
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Andrew grew up in Scarborough (maybe you’ve heard rumours of this land?) but now calls the Annex home. When he’s not taking photos he’s slowly disentangling himself from UofT and writing software for a living. He’s a man of few vices but can finish a bag of nachos in a sitting and naps slightly more than necessary. He also has a blog.
Tony Makepeace
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Tony Makepeace (panoramaist) was born in Montreal and experiments with photographic processes, from 19th century to current. He is currently on the faculty of the Visual and Creative Arts program at Sheridan Institute and the School of Fine Art & Music at The University of Guelph. Feel free to contact him with your questions regarding optics, chromatic aberration, and toning formulas. He will also take questions of a general nature.
Brian McLachlan
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Brian McLachlan is a writer/artist/cartoonist. His hilarious-out-loud webcomic is The Princess Planet. He’s been published by Vice, Coach House Press, Wizards of the Coast, YM, Toronto Star, Oni Press, Scholastic Canada, Nelson textbooks and regularly contributes to Owl Magazine. Brian enjoys mini-golf and regular sized hockey.
Patrick Metzger
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Patrick was born in New Jersey and raised in London, Ontario but has lived most of his adult life in Toronto. From the French-Canadian side of the family he inherited his reputation as raconteur, flaneur, and bon vivant, from the German side an abiding Weltschmerz and keen sense of the Zeitgeist, and from the Irish and Scots his latent alcoholism. Patrick is interested in Mixed Martial Arts, municipal politics, and the Apocalypse.
Nancy Paiva
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Nancy was born on Halloween and has a thing for the colours orange and black. Born in the rolling hills of Pennsylvania, she was raised in Buffalo, New York and has heard every fire joke. She moved to Toronto to marry a nice Canadian boy and considers herself a part of the free trade agreement. She carries a camera with her everywhere she goes (sometimes two) and now leans to one side because of all the gear.
Kevin Plummer
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Kevin Plummer grew up in Saskatchewan then bumped around Canada with stints living on the west coast and the east coast, before finally arriving here in the middle. Now, whenever he needs escape from the clichéd existence of a cubicle worker, he stumbles out to wander the city he loves. He’s got a very diverse set of interests from urban affairs and history to classic film noir to obscure soul music, and finding new ways to procrastinate.
Kiva Reardon
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Kiva Reardon is a west end Toronto transplant from that area of the city east of the Don (she thinks both are neat, but the east end has Jilly’s). After four years in Montreal at McGill (learning how to use terms like “Lacanian” and read homoerotic subtexts into all films) she returned to the city from whence she came. Missing writing about film she started a blog, which led to writing for other filmic sites, then she found herself knocking at the cyber-door of Torontoist. They let her in, which was nice.
Chris Riddell
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Chris is a GTA native, born and raised in Mississauga. Since 2006 he’s called St. Clair West his home and can often be found at various bars and coffee shops in the Annex and Kensington Market typing on his laptop or reading a book. Although he has lived in and around Toronto his whole life, he wants very badly to leave and know what it’s like to be an ex-pat. At present though, he belongs right here in Hogtown writing about art, technology, cycling, interesting people, and city building. He often spends his nights writing poetry and fiction and although none of his creative works have been published yet, he’s working on it. Chris also writes for the Grid, National Post, and others.
Kevin Scott
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Originally from small-town Quebec, Kevin has now spent more than a decade trying to conquer the beast that is Toronto with little more than his sharp wit and a +4 Dragon Sword that he found in a dumpster. When not writing for Torontoist, he can be found working on the Rogers’ TV and online sitcom, APT, which he created after drinking ungodly amounts of the sweet elixir some call iced tea. He dreams of one day uncovering the big scoop, whether it be chocolate, rocky road, or finally figuring out once and for all who let those darn dogs out.
Daniel Sellers
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Daniel was born at St. Michael’s Hospital on a November morning in the mid-1980s, and has called Toronto home ever since. These days, he splits his time between two seasonal and equally glamorous lives: that of a university student, and that of a gardener to (and surreptitious observer of the lifestyles of) Toronto’s rich and famous. He is happiest when running in High Park, listening to a Roger Miller song, hacking his way around one of the city’s municipal golf courses, or labouring over a brief autobiographical paragraph.
Johnnie Walker
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Johnnie Walker is a writer, performer, and the co-artistic producer of Nobody’s Business Theatre. You may have heard of his award-winning solo show Redheaded Stepchild, which is a thorough exploration of the Ginger Problem featuring action figures, juice boxes, and several wigs. You also may have encountered his burlesque MC alter ego “Ginger Darling,” who is pretty good at talking before and after other people take off their clothes. Perhaps you’ve even seen some of his writing in the Grid, Toronto Standard, Xtra, and Spacing. But you also might not have heard of him at all. Though a native of Etobicoke, Johnnie now lives somewhere on Dundas West, which he claims is “nicer than you’d think.”
Ryan Walker
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An emerging photographer currently residing in Toronto, Ryan has a strong interest in the use of various mediums for social change and a common good. He has volunteered his time and offered photographic services to a number of not-for-profit organizations in southern Ontario. In May 2010, Ryan was awarded a Scotiabank Scholarship to attend the Magnum Photos workshop as part of CONTACT 2010. During this time he was fortunate enough to meet and work under the guidance of Magnum Photographer Constantine Manos. Propelled by a curiosity to discover what lies beneath the surface of everyday rituals, his work attempts an intimacy within both the public sphere and the domestic realm.
Natalie Zina Walschots
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Natalie Zina Walschots is a music writer, poet, and editor based in Toronto. She writes for Toronto Standard, Toronto Is Awesome, Hellbound, About Heavy Metal, Angry Metal Guy, Torontoist and Exclaim!. Natalie currently serves as the managing editor of Canada Arts Connect, and her weekly column about feminism and aggressive music, “Girls Don’t Like Metal,” is hosted on Canada Arts Connect Magazine. For Toronto Is Awesome, she contributes the columns “Heavy Metal Ambassador” and “Image Seeks Words.” She is also the reviews editor of This Magazine. Natalie’s second book of poetry, DOOM: Love Poems For Supervillains, was published by Insomniac Press in the spring of 2012. Her first book, Thumbscrews, won the Robert Kroetsch Award for Innovative Poetry and was published by Snare Books in the fall of 2007. She writes about comic books, video games, combat sports, gastroporn, sadomasochism, feminism, and difficult music.
Jeremy Woodcock
Jeremy is an active participant in the Toronto comedy scene, including performing with the award-winning troupe Rulers of the Universe, and has written comedy for Just For Laughs, Dragnet Magazine, The Walrus Laughs, and others. Jeremy also performs music around Toronto both solo and with the band Patti Cake. He writes jokes on Twitter, for which he has been cited in the New York Times Magazine.
Alumni
