Guest blogging by Shawn Micallef

It is my pleasure to introduce to you Shawn Micallef, a Toronto based-writer, who will be guest blogging here till Sunday. He is associate editor at Spacing Magazine, a web and print publication that covers the urban landscape from a public space angle. He is also co-founder of the location-based mobile phone documentary project [murmur] that records personal stories and memories and lets people hear those stories where they take place.

Shawn has an MA in political science and was a resident at the Canadian Film Centre's media lab where [murmur] was initially developed. Shawn's writing on civic life, architecture, urban design and culture has been found in The Globe and Mail, The Toronto Star, The National Post and Eye Weekly, where his "Stroll" column has explored many corners of Toronto on foot. His essays have been published in four books.

Shawn also teaches interactive design at the Ontario College of Art and Design and is a regular commentator on civic events and life in print, television and radio and has lectured on urban culture throughout North American and Europe. Shawn is second generation Maltese as his father's family emigrated from Msida to Canada in 1964, and happily returns to the island for an annual visit.