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Close-up of an illustrated image for West End Phoenix in purple, pink and blue. A upward facing view of people riding in a subway car.
Illustrated image for West End Phoenix in purple, pink and blue of people riding in a subway car.

Community stories Community stories

in a Toronto west end newspaper, hand-delivered locally & mailed around the world.

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West End Phoenix

West End Phoenix (WEP) is a local community broadsheet newspaper for Toronto’s west end, with a readership across the city and beyond. Published roughly 10 times a year, it’s hand-delivered to local subscribers, and mailed out to hundreds of subscribers across Canada and around the globe.

Conceived by Rheostatics founder, musician, writer and publisher Dave Bidini, WEP is dedicated to sharing the stories of diverse, multi-faceted and evolving neighbourhoods of Toronto’s west end, from the Humber River to Spadina, and beyond. It features a broad range of contributors, from emerging young writers, to established voices like Chief Ladybird, Margaret Atwood, Michie Mee, Roddy Doyle, Claudia Dey and others.

Since launching in 2017 after a door-to-door subscriber campaign, it’s been recognized as a model for community newspapers everywhere. In addition to publishing the paper, they’re very active in the community, hosting events at their WEP Central home – like book launches, music concerts, town halls, readings for kids, poetry events and writing workshops.

 

A grid of four images featuring text and photographs. Top left: Exterior of the West End Phoenix office, the name in white font on a pink background. There's a print on the door with the headline: Devil in the Details. Top right: Two pages of the West End Phoenix on a wooden table, one with an illustration of people riding in a subway car, the other with photos and copy. Bottom left: A black & white photo of a man wearing a hat and riding a bicycle, delivering the paper. The words: "West end delivery day" in black font within a white box to the right. Bottom right: West End Phoenix is a local community broadsheet newspaper for Toronto’s west end. It is hand-delivered to subscribers and published roughly 10 times a year.

(Photo credits: West End Phoenix.)

 

What we like about this newspaper

With so many newspapers moving to an exclusively online presence these days and/or cutting back on local coverage, it’s refreshing to see a neighbourhood community paper produced on paper (in broadsheet format, no less!) and hand-delivered to local subscribers. And West End Phoenix even gets mailed out all over the world!

We love that WEP supports emerging young writers, how it invites story ideas from the community and that they sometimes even include special gifts for their subscribers in their mailings: a risograph-printed calendar for example, designed by a local artist, or a calendar featuring photographs of local shop owners (Written by C.M.)

Accessibility: Please contact them at hello@westendphoenix.com

 

Ideas for where you can go from here:
  • Explore West End Phoenix stories online. Have an idea for a story that you’d like to read about, write or photograph? Email WEP at: stories@westendphoenix.com
  • Consider subscribing to West End Phoenix and participate in their free community classifieds to send a message to your neighbours.
  • Check out their upcoming events.
  • Even if you don’t live in Toronto’s west end, there are lots of stories to tell about your neighbourhood. What interesting local stories would you like to see or contribute to in your area?

 

We love community newspapers because they inspire you to get to know your neighbourhood. Getting to know your neighbourhood allows you to become more engaged with your local community. Becoming more engaged with your local community is part of the flourishing offline life Young W helps you discover: by exploring SOCIETY and the other 8 pillars of Arts & Letters, including those you may be hesitant to try.

 

 

 

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