Block Party, founded in 2021 by Joseph Donato and Isla McLaughlin, is a magazine and chapbook press that publishes voice-driven poetry and prose and compelling visual art through both our digital magazine and hybrid chapbooks. We aim to feature an array of artists from across Canada, and occasionally worldwide, that demonstrate individuality within their field of practice. We like to think of Block Party Magazine and Press as a literal Block Party: a place for the community to come together and celebrate the talents of their neighbours, while also sharing their own.
Block Party is based around Tsi Tkarón:to (Toronto, Ontario) on the traditional lands of the Huron-Wendat, the Haudenosaunee, and the Mississaugas of Scugog Island.
The Block Party Team
Joseph Donato | Editor-in-Chief & Illustrator
Isla McLaughlin | Creative Director & Managing Editor (Press)
Catherina Tseng | Editor
Madeleine Frechette | Operations Coordinator
Naomi Cabral | Videographer
The Girls Who Get It, Get It
By Isla McLaughlin, Mary Maliszewski, Shanti Dhoré, Catherina Tseng, Morgen Mulcaster, Regina Zhao, Timea James, Sonika Verma, Georgea Jourjouklis, Alexis Murrell, Kasthuri Kanesalingam, Uniekar Bacchus, Lamia Firasta, Rana Sulaman, Alexa DiFrancesco, Victor
Could we be any clearer? Ryan Fitzpatrick's ENGC86 Creative Writing: Poetry II students have joined forces to create a project so comprehensive and distinct that it demands attention with each turn of the page.
Issue 02: BLOOM
By Matthew Hanick, Maya Bewley, Xochitl Galvez, Bryana Lorenzo, Jay White, RUNA, Rashmeet Kaur, Kristen Donoghue-Stanford, Sabrina Almeida, Monica Loney, Ruth Niemiec, Jane Hamilton, Hannah Dwyer, Kris Henry, Julia Lindsay, & Seeara Lindsay
As the snow melts to slush, and the slush to streams that lead us to the riverbank, what do we find? In the softened soil, will the smallest of sprouts erupt and tell us of this new beginning? Will the sun be able to tolerate us for longer and will her warmth begin to linger in the nights? Thank you for joining Block Party Magazine as we begin to welcome a much-needed Spring.
Issue 03: HEAT
By Victoria Mbabazi, Taylor White, Kyra Lawler, Matthew Walsh, Ivor Daniel, Eric Wang, Noah Farberman, Genevieve Lang Dalby, & Lauren Frechette
Pressure, passion, anger. Heat sprouts in our chests, travels through our blood stream to the tips of our fingers until it is all that we know. Burning cheeks, clenched fists, hammering heart that threatens to burst. As summer fast-approaches, we want to know how you feel heat. What makes your jaw tighten? What makes you salivate? What do you desire so strongly that the flames might swallow you whole? See how heat can be both power and destruction.