About Us
Welcome to Third Coast Review, a curated, online magazine specializing in Chicago-area arts and culture coverage. We’ve been bringing you previews, reviews, features, interviews and more about theater, movies, music, museums, visual arts, video games, books and food since January 2016.
Many of our editors and writers are alumni of Gapers Block, the Chicago-centric website launched in 2003. When Gapers Block went on hiatus in January 2016, we launched Third Coast Review so we could continue writing about our favorite Chicago subjects. Read about our editors here and check out each page. See Our Writers page for info about our other contributors. If you’re interested in writing for Third Coast Review, please get in touch!
Third Coast Review LLC is a small business, and we hope you will help us grow by sharing our articles on social media, encouraging others to read our work, and perhaps even making a sustaining donation via PayPal. Your support helps us continue to report on Chicago’s vibrant arts and culture scene.
If you’re interested in advertising with Third Coast Review and reaching a growing audience of engaged, cultured readers, we’d love to work with you. See our Media Kit for more information.
Stages is edited by Nancy Bishop.
Nancy S. Bishop is Publisher and Stages editor of Third Coast Review. She’s a member of the American Theatre Critics Association and a 2014 Fellow of the National Critics Institute at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center. She’s a veteran of 35 years in corporate marketing for Chicago professional services firms and now writes about film, books, art, architecture and design as well as theater. Follow her on Twitter @nsbishop.
Screens is edited by Lisa Trifone.
Lisa Trifone is Third Coast Review’s Managing Editor, as well as Screens editor and a film and theater critic. Trifone has worked in independent film for 15 years, at film festivals across the country and supporting the theatrical and digital releases of award-winning films. A Chicago native and general culture fiend, she owns her own film strategy and publicity firm, Bright Iris Film Co. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram. Email her here.
Games & Tech is edited by Antal Bokor.
Antal Bokor is a game writer from the northern suburbs. He grew up watching in awe as his mom conquered NES classics like Kid Icarus and Metroid, which inspired his love for video games. Antal’s interests range from video game history to music and development. When he’s not playing Super Mario World or Dark Souls with his girlfriend, they’re tackling cooking adventures together. You can find him flying spaceships with his trusty space-cat or on Twitter @TheAntalBokor. Email him here.
Lit is edited by Dan Kelly.
Dan Kelly has been a writer and editor for 30 years, contributing articles and essays to the Chicago Reader, Chicago Journal, The Baffler, Harvard Magazine, The University of Chicago Magazine, and other pubs. His favorite writing subjects are art, comics, Chicago, history, architecture, and horror—for starters. Email him here and visit him on Twitter at @mrdankelly.
Food is edited by Cynthia Kallile.
Cynthia Kallile earned her reputation for being a food entrepreneur with the creation of the Meatloaf Bakery. Her creative and artistic meatloaf recipes wowed customers across the country for nine years. Author of The Meatloaf Bakery Cookbook, Comfort food with a twist, Cynthia still loves to cook, write and speak about her experiences with ingredients, techniques and delicious outcomes. Email Cynthia here.
Art & Museums and the Beyond page are edited by Marielle Bokor.
Marielle Bokor writes and takes photos for both Third Coast Review and Chicagoist, where she’s captain of the nerd beat. A native of the Chicago area, she found herself a desert dweller at heart and still wishes she could mash-up the state of New Mexico and city of Chicago somehow. She has a wonderful boyfriend and lives wayyy up north with lots of cats and not enough bathrooms, and can often be found tending to her garden or cooking up some good eats while she binge-watches some Netflix or tries to defeat her latest video game nemesis. You can keep up with her on her personal blog (www.tarantella23.blogspot.com) or on twitter at @rosesarered23. Email her here.
Aaron Cynic writes and edits Third Coast Today.
Aaron Cynic is an independent journalist and photographer based in Chicago. For eight years he was a regular contributor to Chicagoist, a co-founder of Visu.News, and his work has appeared in Progress Illinois, Alternet, Truthout, In These Times, Nation of Change, The Daily Line, The Huffington Post, Shareable, and more. Email Aaron here.
Julian Ramirez edits the Music page and curates the 3CR Calendar.
Our high-energy Music page and the all-important calendar of upcoming events are presided over by Julian Ramirez, who scoops up interesting Chicago-area events wherever he can find them. His rule: It should be something you want to go to or would recommend to your friends. Julian is a natural-born Chicagoan who graduated from UIC with a BA in Creative Writing. He spends most of his sleepless nights indulging in as much art and media as he possibly can. Email him here.
Louis Harris is classical music editor.
Louis Harris, our chief classical music writer and editor, taught himself to write back when punk rock was still in its formative years. He lived in Washington, DC, where he wrote record and show reviews for local fanzines. He later became engrossed in classical music, particularly chamber music, which remains his passion. He occasionally writes poetry and has a published novel. He lives on the north side of Chicago, which he considers to be the greatest city in the country, if not the world. Email him here.
Andrew Huff is our special adviser.
Andrew Huff co-founded and was editor and publisher of Gapers Block from 2003 until January 2016. He thinks Chicagoland is the best amusement park ever. A lifelong night owl, Andrew works deep into the night at his West Ridge two-flat, writing and editing and playing with the cats. He spends more time online than probably is healthy, but he’s trying to change that. See what he’s up to at me3dia.com.
Web design and development. Our website developer is Utopian Designs, led by founder and CEO Julien Kos. Utopian Designs worked with us from the beginning of our dream to launch Third Coast Review in 2015. Julien was very involved every step of the way–in design, web development and ongoing support. We can say wholeheartedly that if you’re looking for excellent development and support for your website, check out Utopian Designs.
Photos on our site
Photos that accompany posts are by 3CR writers or are provided by the arts organizations they are covering. We try to give credit for every photo we use in posts. If you see a photo that has the wrong credit or is missing a credit, please let us know by using the contact form in the footer.
A word about our name
The term third coast has been in common usage for years. There’s a guitar shop, a café, and, of course, there’s Thomas Dyja’s book: The Third Coast: When Chicago Built the American Dream. There’s also a Third Coast Magazine at Western Michigan University (yes, Michigan also can claim the third coast, although maybe theirs should be designated the fourth). We like identifying ourselves in this off-kilter way and hope you enjoy our online-only coverage of a wide range of arts and culture topics. Check back daily because we’re always in motion.
CONTACT US!
Want to write for Third Coast Review?
If you’re interested in writing for Third Coast Review, please write to us here or fill out our Contact Us form (you’ll find a link in the footer). Tell us about your arts and culture interests and writing experience. Include links to your writing samples if possible.
To submit a story idea or events for our calendar, 3CR’s Favorite Events:
Email your event info to Julian Ramirez, calendar editor, or write to us here. Be sure to include complete time, date and address information as well as links to the event page and to a contact person. Send other story ideas to this address or to the section editor above.
