This Magazine celebrates 40 years of feisty independence

This Magazine is celebrating 40 years of publication -- no mean feat -- with a splashy event on Wednesday night at the Gladstone Hotel in Toronto. (Attention is being paid in places like Torontoist.)

Here's what This says about itself:

It is one of Canada's longest-publishing alternative journals. Founded by a gang of school activists in 1966, and originally called This Magazine is About Schools, the modern-day This Magazine focuses on Canadian politics, pop culture and the arts, but in keeping with its radical roots never pulls punches. Subversive, edgy and smart, This Magazine is the real alternative to that.

Praised for integrating commentary and investigative reporting with in-depth arts coverage, This Magazine has been instrumental in trumpeting the new works of young Canadian writers and artists. In fact, over the past 40 years, This Magazine has introduced the early work of Canada's most notable writers, critics and artists, including Margaret Atwood, Dionne Brand, Tomson Highway, Naomi Klein, Evelyn Lau, Dennis Lee, Michael Ondaatje, Rick Salutin, Stan Persky, Robert Priest, Al Purdy, Drew Hayden Taylor and Clive Thompson.