Review: Ana Castillo Traverses Loss, Grief, and Politics in My Book of the Dead
My Book of the Dead By Ana Castillo University of New Mexico Press We are caught in a time of collective mourning, moving through yet another year of the ongoing […]
Review: Chicago Grittiness With an Eye for Beauty: Sacred City by Theodore C. Van Alst Jr.
Sacred City By Theodore C. Van Alst Jr. University of New Mexico Press The Teddy in Theodore C. Van Alst Jr.’s new short story collection Sacred City has a way […]
Son of Featured Creatures: Chicago Horror Writers and Artists Share Their Favorite Chicago Horror Creators
Unless you’re an easily frightened tourist, Chicago is rarely considered a hotbed of horror. But as Third Coast Review has pointed out before, our town has a distinguished pedigree in […]
Feature: Local Author Taps into Her Childhood with Two New Children’s Books
It’s not often that Third Coast Review has an opportunity to review children’s books. Fortunately, Chicagoland author J.B. Frank has given us a fantastic reason to do so. Somewhere in […]
Interview: In Olde Chicago: A Talk with David Anthony Witter about His Book Oldest Chicago
David Anthony Witter was born in Miller, Indiana—“across the lagoon from Nelson Algren’s summer home,” as he puts it—but has spent most of his life in Chicago. Growing up in […]
Review: What Played in Peoria—Punks in Peoria, by Jonathan Wright and Dawson Barrett
Punks in Peoria: Making a Scene in the American Heartland Jonathan Wright and Dawson Barrett University of Illinois Press I told a friend I was reviewing a book called Punks […]
Dialogs: Qian Julie Wang and Greta Johnsen Discuss Beauty, Secrecy, Fear, and Freedom at CHF panel
We all carry secrets, but not everyone has the courage to sit under stage lights, before an audience awash in shadows, and tell them to the world. But immigration attorney […]
Review: Poetry Collection Darkness on the Face of the Deep Takes Risks with Emotional Depths
Darkness on the Face of the Deep by Patrick T. Reardon Kelsay Books Review by Renny Golden In Darkness on the Face of the Deep, Third Coast Review writer Patrick […]
Review: Literary Festivals, Salons, and Words Aloud in Ellen Wiles’s Live Literature
Live Literature: The Experience and Cultural Value of Literary Performance Events from Salons to Festivals Ellen Wiles Palgrave Macmillan With music, open mics, and more—live performance is slowly coming back […]
Review: Dark, Rough, Brutal, and Real: Bessie Smith by Jackie Kay
Bessie Smith: A Poet’s Biography of a Blues Legend By Jackie Kay Vintage Books Bessie Smith, Empress of the Blues, liked to spend money on herself and on her friends, […]
Feature: We Visit the Artist at Work, Retyping a Chicago Literary Masterpiece
I could hear the clickety-clack of his typewriter a block away. It was quiet around the Union Stock Yards Gate with only an occasional car or truck passing. And as […]
Review: Raising Issues Beyond Entertainment, In the Aftermath, by Jane Ward
In the Aftermath By Jane Ward She Writes Press Jane Ward’s In the Aftermath is an earnest, even affecting examination of the strong waves of guilt, sadness, and anger among […]