The Big Book of Spacing

Editors: Matthew Blackett and Dylan Reid

Publisher: Spacing

The Big Book of Spacing, 248 full-colour pages, takes the best content from Spacing’s magazine, website, and books from the last 20 years and gives them a second life. The articles in this book trace both Spacing’s magazine’s and city’s evolution. To give the features more depth, each writer was approached and provided with the opportunity to reflect on the piece, the time of writing, or how things have changed since then in side notes and afterthoughts. The occasional factual updates or the significance and impact of the article were also added. Each feature is of its moment, but each one also speaks to Toronto’s present and the potential for the future in some way. The Big Book of Spacing is a good starting point to not only look back on Toronto’s history but also see where the city is headed.

About the Editors:

Matthew Blackett is the publisher, creative director and one of the founders of Spacing magazine. He is the author, editor, and photographer of 11 books. He is also a graphic artist, product designer, and deeply-committed advocate for Toronto. As publisher, Matthew has helped shape Spacing into one of Canada’s top small magazines: he was named Editor of the Year in 2007 by the Canadian Society of Magazine Editors and Spacing has been named Canadian Small Magazine of the Year six times (2007, 2008, 2009, 2013, 2014, 2015), and Best Canadian Magazine Blog (2011, 2012, 2013) and Best Canadian Magazine Web Site (2013, 2014, 2016). Matthew has won multiple awards for his work with Spacing and as an advocate for Toronto.

Dylan Reid is an editor, writer, urban activist, and historian who contributes to the discussion about cities in our society, especially Toronto. He was one of the founders of Spacing magazine in 2003 and is the co-owner, executive editor, and a writer for the magazine. Dylan has also contributed writing about cities and other topics to other publications. As an advocate for making Toronto a better city for walking, he was a member and later co-chair of the Toronto Pedestrian Committee and co-founder of Walk Toronto. He has completed Ryerson University’s foundational Copy and Stylistic Editing I course, and graduated from the MFA in Creative Non-Fiction program at King’s College at Dalhousie University.