Our Writers
In addition to the editors on the About page, these Chicago writers contribute articles, reviews and interviews to Third Coast Review. If you'd like to write with us, please fill out our Contact Us form and include a short bio and links to writing samples. Or do the same and email it to us here.
Adam Kaz is a Chicago-based freelance writer, editor of The Ground Is Uneven, and marketing professional. His work has appeared in Third Coast Review, Digital Huddle, The Chicago Machine, The Daily Illini, and The Ground Is Uneven. Learn more about Adam
Andrew Lagunas is a freelance photographer from Naperville who specializes in portraiture and concert photography. He has an Associate in Arts degree from College of DuPage and is always looking for new creative outlets.
Angela Allyn is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice includes ensemble building, community based arts and experience design. She writes about arts and culture for numerous publications and serves as Community Arts Coordinator at the City of Evanston.
Anne Siegel is a Milwaukee-based writer and theater critic who has been a member of the American Theatre Critics Association for more than 30 years. She has served on the organization’s executive committee and has held a number of committee chairmanships. Anne covers a wide range of Milwaukee theater for the city’s alternative newspaper. Her work also appears on several theater-related websites.
Aviv Hart has been an active member of the underground music scene in Chicago for a decade; booking, performing in, and writing about local shows since high school. His analysis is focused not only on music itself, but its cultural context and connotations.
Bob Benenson is publisher/writer/photographer of Local Food Forum, a new newsletter that covers the broad sweep of the Chicago region's food community. He is a longtime advocate for a better, healthier, more sustainable food system and is an avid home cook who gets most of his delicious ingredients from local farmers.
Brandon Smith is a freelance writer, frequent concert attendee, and occasional Twitch streamer. He's usually at the nearest taqueria or attending the concert of an artist he discovered while surfing the internet.
Caitlin Archer Helke
Carrie McGath is a poet and art critic is who is currently at work on her second collection of poetry, The Luck of Anhedonia. She teaches writing and lives in the Logan Square neighborhood with her sassy tuxedo cat, Sophie. You can follow Carrie on Instagram and check out her website here.
Dan Santaromita is a native of suburban Northbrook and lives in Lincoln Square. He has written for NBC Sports Chicago, Pro Soccer USA and Suburban Life among other outlets since graduating from the University of Missouri School of Journalism. You can find him ranting about soccer, video games and Mizzou football on Twitter @TheDanSanto..
Doug Mose grew up on a farm in western Illinois, and moved to the big city to go to grad school. He lives with his husband Jim in Printers Row. When he's not writing for Third Coast Review, Doug works as a business writer.
Elizabeth Niarchos Neukirch is a Greek American writer and PR consultant for Chicago arts and nonprofit organizations. Her fiction, essays and criticism have appeared in publications including Mississippi Review, Take ONE Magazine, The Sunlight Press and The Daily Chronicle. Learn more on her website here and follow her on Twitter/X at @EJNeukirch. Photo by Diane Alexander White.
Jessica Nikolich was born and raised in the Chicago suburbs. After going to journalism school in Columbia, Missouri, and working at a small-town Michigan newspaper on the banks of Lake Huron, she’s back for good to soak up as much live music, culture and craft beer as humanly possible. Her writing can be found in Chicago magazine and Chicago Innerview Magazine. In the real world, Jessica is a marketing specialist at a law firm and survives her CTA commutes binging podcasts.
Jessica Mlinaric is a writer, photographer and cat mom. Her first book on the strange and secret corners of Chicago is forthcoming from Reedy Press. Jessica founded urbnexplorer.com in 2010 to share stories about cities and their cultures. Right now, she is probably at a concert or volunteering at 826CHI. She tweets at @urbnexplorer.
Tankboy resides in the body of Jim Kopeny and lives in Mayfair with Pickle the Kitten. He had a beagle named Betty (RIP) who may have actually been slightly more famous than most of the musicians slogging through the local scene. He's written about music for longer than most bands you hear on the radio have existed. He also swears that it wasn't him who did that and has learned that "deny everything" is a basic tenet of existence. He was also the senior editor of A&E at Chicagoist from 2005 until the site's shuttering in late 2017. Follow him on Twitter, Instagram and check out his website.
June Sawyers has published more than 25 books. Her work has appeared in the Chicago Tribune, New City, San Francisco Chronicle, and Stagebill. She teaches at the Newberry Library and is the founder of the arts group, the Phantom Collective
Karin McKie is a Chicago freelance writer, cultural factotum and activism concierge. She jams econo.
Kate Scott Daly specializes in music journalism. Her body of work includes live documenting over 200 bands, reviewing several albums and concerts, and multiple artist interviews. Kate continues to brave the photo pits of major music venues and outdoor festivals throughout the Chicagoland scene.
Kathy D. Hey writes creative non-fiction essays. A lifelong Chicagoan, she is enjoying life with her husband, daughter and three dogs in the wilds of Edgewater. When she isn’t at her computer, she is in her garden growing vegetables and herbs for kitchen witchery.
Kim Campbell (they/them) is a freelance editor, podcaster and creative writer who has spent a career focusing on the arts, particularly literature, theater and circus. Former editor of CircusTalk News, they have written about theater and circus for Third Coast Review since its very beginning. Kim is a member of the American Theater Critics Association and the International Network of Circus Arts Magazines. In 2019, they were on the jury of FIRCO in Madrid (Circus Festival Iberoamericano) and in 2021 they were on the voting committee for the International Circus Awards. See their tweets or follow them on Instagram.
Lorenzo Zenitsky is a Chicago-based software engineer, amateur bedroom metal musician, and a semi-frequent drinker of coffee but only if it's iced. If he's not admiring his terrible Simpsons tattoos in a gently cracked mirror, he's usually at a local show vibing to great tunes and abhorrently priced beer. $15?! Get outta here…
Michael Kocourek is a Berwyn native, now living on the north side. He is a marketing professional, but beyond the corporate world, his passion involves sharing live concert experiences with the masses. If he isn’t curating a playlist or sharing a new song, he’s likely eating at a Chicago restaurant or cooking.
Patrick Daul
Patrick T. Reardon is a Chicago historian, essayist, poet and writer who was a Chicago Tribune reporter for 32 years. He is the author of nine books including the forthcoming The Loop: The ‘L’ Tracks That Shaped and Saved Chicago (SIU Press).
Row Light (she/they) is a culture writer, editor, and producer who loves exploring Chicago and writing theater and film reviews for 3CR. They earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Media Studies and English at Scripps College and a Master’s in Theopoetics and Writing at Earlham School of Religion. Row’s writing has been published by The List, Glam, Looper, Screen Rant, Explore, and other outlets. Their poetry has appeared in Snowflake Magazine, CrossCurrents Review, and on Tupelo Press’ website. You can keep up with their work at row-light.com.
Sarah Luyengi has a background in creative writing and sits on the board of the Story Matters Foundation. She has been featured in GoSolo. Her work has also appeared in Borderless Magazine, Common Ground Review, and South Side Weekly.
Shaela Johnston is a West Coast born freelance photographer and writer who moved to Chicago as of 2021. Specializing in live music photography, Shaela can be found attending concerts several times a week when she isn't traveling as a tour manager or working on her Bachelor's degree. In her free time she listens to metal, hardcore, hiphop, and likes to be home with her hairless cat named Soup and wife Courtney.
Steve Prokopy is Third Coast Review's chief film critic. For nearly 20 years, he was the Chicago editor for Ain’t It Cool News, where he contributed film reviews and filmmaker/actor interviews under the name “Capone.” He's also a contributor at /Film (SlashFilm.com), Backstory Magazine, and the Music Box Theatre website.
The voices in Terry Galvan’s head compel them to write about Chicago’s people, culture and ghosts. As an excuse to learn about the voices in other writers’ heads, they contribute author interviews and book reviews to Third Coast Review. They also love malort. Follow @TerryGalvanChi.
Tom Wawzenek
Valerie Nikolas
Third Coast Review Alumni Club
The below writers have contributed their insights and talents to Third Coast Review in the past, and their articles remain an important part of the site's content archive.
Andrew Hertzberg is a writer and reader, sometimes more of one than the other. You can find him biking around all over the city, volunteering at Open Books, contributing to various (on)/(off)line avenues, or at any of Chicago's finest TV-deficient, cash-only bars.
Andrew Struska is a writer, Chicago native and marketing professional. He has written on a variety of subjects ranging from video games to food, to travel to local business since 2008.
Adam Ramos lives in lovely Logan Square and is excited to bring his experiences covering indie rock in Chicago, reviewing the most exciting up-and-coming acts when they make their way through the city.
Arthur Haynes is a Black fiction writer, feminist, backseat freestyler and juris doctor. He is a student and enthusiast of all things creative. Much to his fiancée's dismay, Arthur is fond of launching into hour-long rants about obscure books and movies that no one else seems to care about.
Benjamin Cannon holds a few bachelor's degrees and is doing nothing related to what they prepared him to do. In addition to 3CR he is a freelance contributor for The A.V. Club. His passions are design, culture, comedy and Epicurean pursuits. Find him on Twitter or at his website.
Brent Eickhoff is a director, writer and educator. He's a founding member and co-artistic director of Blue Goose Theatre Ensemble and has worked with many Chicago and regional theater companies. While Brent has worked with a variety of Chicago theater artists, he doesn't let that get in the way of writing unbiased reviews of any production he covers.
Chris Riha—better known by his instagram handle @Superbia454—is a multimedia photojournalism student at Columbia College Chicago. Chris has studied alongside legendary Chicago photojournalist John H. White, and barely survived a three-month internship at the Chicago Reader. He is rarely seen out in the wild without a camera or three around his shoulders. When not covering arts and culture, he can be found chasing and photographing politicians and protesters on the streets of Chicago.
Chris Zois has been roaming around Chicago since graduating Roosevelt University in 2011. He has been a copywriter and reporter since shedding his cap and gown, working for Fanatics and No Limit Agency. His ramblings deal with his gripes of recent viewings at the multiplex and interviews some of his favorite bands from Chicago. He now lives in Orlando with Katelyn.
Colin Smith listens to garage rock and reads theory by the Frankfurt school. He led his college's newspaper, wrote features for a magazine in Kenya, and wrote a thesis on the cultural iconography of the guitar. He edits reviews for Pop 'stache and plays pop-rock music. Follow him on Twitter.
Danielle Wilcox holds an M.F.A in creative writing from Columbia College Chicago where she currently works in the News Office. She is the co-creator of LDOC, a free bi-monthly arts publication, and the recipient of the 2015 Crusade Engagement Grant. She lives in Humboldt Park with her husband and her cat.
Elif Geris is a concert addict, who also can't go a day without feeling a musical hum in her throat, and the trickle of her fingers across the keys. She has a background in journalistic writing and radio production, currently working as a producer at WGN Radio. UIC is her alma mater and where she began connecting with Chicago's music scene.
Emma Terhaar is one of the founding editors of Third Coast Review and a former editor of the Lit section. She reviews books, plays and music and is an active volunteer for both 826CHI and the Old Town School of Folk Music. In July 2018, she moved back east to fulfill her dream of attending culinary school.
F. Amanda Tugade is known as the girl in the back of the bar standing on her tippy-toes, trying to take a cool photos of the show on her iPhone and posting it on IG. She's currently hustling as a freelance reporter. Follow her every move @followmetugade.
James Brod recently graduated from Dominican University, with a degree in political science. Ironically, he had previously considered majoring in journalism, but didn’t want to write for a living. Funny how things turn out, isn’t it? You can find him wandering the northwest suburbs, or on Twitter at @JamesBrod12.
JT Newman (she/they) is a food and cultural reviewer, home chef and media maven who has been writing for a variety of Chicago publications for more than 25 years. They were one of the founders of Third Coast Review in 2015 and were a regular contributor to Gaper's Block, Nightspots and Windy City Times. Their work has been published in the Chicago Not-For-Tourists Guide, A Field Guide to Gay and Lesbian Chicago, and Windy City Queer. They host a weekly queer food podcast, Lez Eat, available on Apple and Spotify, among others.
Katie Priest recently returned home to Chicago after receiving her BA in English from the University of Washington in Seattle. She works for an environmental nonprofit where she writes and researches grants and manages social media for expanding agroforestry in developing countries. Katie is pursuing her long-time passion for reading and writing through the exploration and review of the arts with Third Coast Review.
Katie Steensma says, "If you want to learn what someone fears losing, watch what they photograph.” Outside of picture taking, Katie lives in Old Town, can easily finish a bag of chips in one sitting, never wears color, and cries constantly when listening the DJs Porter Robinson and Madeon. @steeeeenz.
Mariel Fechik is a musician, writer, and program coordinator for a Chicago nonprofit. She fronts the band Church Booty, sings backup for Chicago musician Emily Blue, and also recently started a duo project with Blue. Her poetry has appeared in various literary journals. She holds a BA in English from the University of Illinois, as well as an Illinois Professional Educators License.
Matthew Nerber was a performer, theater artist and theater/film critic in Chicago, until he returned to his upstate New York home to earn a master's degree in communications from Newhouse School of Communications at Syracuse University. He's now living in Syracuse. Matthew was a 2019 Fellow of the National Critics Institute at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center.
Nick Blashill is a native of Downers Grove who has recently returned to the Chicago area. By day he works in market research, but he is looking forward to sharing the experiences with Chicago’s craft beer and music scenes that fill his free time.
Paul Dailing wrote the late, lamented Chicago Review of Terrible Books for Third Coast Review in 2016. Whether it examined the Derridian logocentrism of hopping on pop, the speculative fiction of Ray Comfort or the narrative framing structures of a Chilton repair guide for a '78 Dodge Aspen, the monthly series was a searing, penetrating eye by a literary luminary of whom South African playwright Athol Fugard once said "I have consulted my attorneys and will seek legal action if you do not refrain from attributing fictive laudatory quotes to me." Dailing wrote f'realsies at 1,001 Chicago Afternoons until he got to 1,001.
Pearl Shin is a writer and photographer, passionate about music, film, art, culture, and all things geek. When she’s not being an overthinking nerd, she’s out exploring the city, going to concerts, and looking for the best cafes in Chicago. Get to know Pearl via her site, Instagram and Twitter.
Robert O'Connor is a writer and editor in Chicago. Last year he wrote the book "Hiroshima Nagasaki: An Illustrated History, Anthology, and Guide" for Odyssey Publications. His work has appeared in Lumpen, Mash Tun, Proximity, Spike, 3:AM and Gapersblock.
Sam Kayuha is a writer and journalist from Columbus, Ohio. He is a graduate of Ohio State University and has been writing about music, sports, politics and the arts since 2013. His collected work can be found at medium.com/@skayuha.
Sarah Brooks is a native Chicagoan with a penchant for words, music, art and this magnificent city of Chicago. Raised on The Beatles and learning the violin at age 9, Sarah’s passion for music began early in life. Her musical obsessions include Wilco, Otis Redding, Neko Case and Real Estate, but they truly change daily. She can be found at a concert, trying a new restaurant, or running along the lakefront path. Find her Tweets here and email her here.