Who is Picture this Post?
- Most Picture this Post theater reviews are written by actors, directors and playwrights—or wannabes in these categories.
- Most Picture this Post dance reviews are written by dancers or choreographers.
- Most Picture this Post music reviews are written by composers, musicians or serious students of music.
- Picture this Post travel stories are mainly written by writers who have traveled a bit in their time, read one or more tour books about the places they have visited, and look to add in-the-moment commentary that isn’t commonly found.
- Some of us are “mere mortals” who just love to write and find such writing highly rewarding.
- Some of us are more oriented to photography than writing.
Please write to editor@picturethispost.com or send a message on our contact form if you would like to study our writer's guidelines and apply to be part of the editorial team.
Listing below is alphabetical by last name.
Chiara Berzieri — Film Review Writer
Chiara Berzieri –brings a keen eye for detail and multi-lingual expertise to be the copy editor for Picture This Post European travel stories. She has a deep interest in architecture, photography and culture.
Born and raised in the sixties in Milan, the Fashion City, Chiara moved to Varese, 40 km north, near Switzerland, famous for its Italian Liberty Style and for its stunning position around the Italian Lake District, one of the most beautiful environmental areas of Europe. After graduating in Varese, she worked for many years for Attorney at Law firms. In 2005, Chiara moved to Modena, the City of Pavarotti and car makers as Ferrari, Lamborghini and Maserati.
2009 was the year that Chiara discovered Umbria – the green heart of Italy – by chance, touring the country by car. She says, “I found in the green landscapes of Valdichiana the authenticity of its welcoming people. In 2010 I bought a 19th century building, totally abandoned, Podere Molinaccio, and started the renovation and modernization work with great satisfaction. Today I’m an enthusiastic, curious and happy host at Podere Molinaccio of people from all over the world!"
Read more about Chiara in the Picture this Post profile “PANICALE DIVERTIMENTO-STYLE Review–Breaking Bread with Chiara and Raffa”
Read more about Podere Molinaccio here.
Julia Bristol — Writer, Music Calendar Team
Ever since she was a young girl, Julia has loved being creative, and frequently enjoyed all aspects of art. Whether that was going to the museum, watching a movie, or getting lost in a new book for hours, she found her passion through these stories being told. Growing up in a family with a love for the outdoors and traveling, she never had difficulty discovering new worlds to write about, and new scenarios to imagine. In addition to this, her free time also typically consists of going to concerts, hanging out with her friends, and traveling.
Aliza Brylinsky, Writer, Manager of New York Theater News
Aliza Brylinsky is an aspiring writer based in Ithaca, New York. Originally from a small town in Pennsylvania, Aliza spent much of her life surrounded by pieces of literature, which fostered a deep love for the written word and the effect that it can have on a wider audience. Often writing short fantasy stories for fun and imagining the intricate plotlines that the characters would be involved in as a child, this eventually led her to pursue a path to writing professionally. When not focusing on both creative and professional writing, Aliza can be found enjoying the bounties of nature around her home, reading works of fantasy and sci-fi, and smothering her various pets with all the love she can give them. She has a deep interest in the history and culture of any area she happens to find herself in.
CLICK HERE TO READ PICTURE THIS POST STORIES BY Aliza Brylinsky
Alexis Bugajski — Writer, Chicago Theater Calendar Manager
Alexis is a theater reviewer, travel bug, media specialist, and burger & beer enthusiast. During the day she works in the advertising business as a senior communications designer. When night falls, or when she can escape to New York, she’s hitting the theaters to see as many shows as she can. And whenever she’s not at her desk or in the audience, she’s out seeking the best burger and beer offerings in Chicago.
CLICK HERE TO READ PICTURE THIS POST STORIES BY ALEXIS BUGAJSKI
Ryan Davis — Writer
Ryan Davis (@indieartsvoice) is a film publicist and communications professional with over ten years experience in the film industry and arts marketing. She is co-founder and Principal at Smarthouse Creative. Named by Media Inc. as one of Washington State's most influential women in film, TV, and media, Ryan has worked with outlets ranging from CNN and The New York Times, to community newspapers and local radio. She has worked in almost every aspect of the film business--from production and festivals to distribution, exhibition and sales.
Ryan worked for Arab Film Distribution/Typecast Films where she was part of the production and release of the Academy Award-nominated Iraq in Fragments. She has worked for a variety of nonprofit arts groups and organizations, including heading the marketing departments for Northwest Film Forum and Northwest Folklife, and was the assistant director of Couch Fest Films from 2010-2014. Ryan was on the jury for the International Documentary Challenge for 2012-3, and a juror for the 2015 Seattle Shorts Festival. Ryan currently sits on the board of The Grand Cinema in Tacoma, WA.
Maryam Emami, National Theater Calendar Manager, Senior Trainer
Maryam Emami is a young adult with a brain of an imaginative seven-year-old. She might appear introverted, but she explodes on her laptop keyboard, typing away anything from the frustrations to the joys of life. One of her dear friends is Devvo, a Devotion Echeveria succulent, who she talks and reads Persian poems to. She is on her way to becoming a responsible adult, but that is only a seven-year old’s dream. In the meantime, she tries to learn and dance through life with every breath that runs away from her chest, and eagerly comes back to her lungs.
Click here to send your theater press releases to Maryam Emami
Holly Fontanetta — Writer
Holly Fontanetta is inspired by narratives that capture the idiosyncrasies of human experience. She has driven absurd distances on a whim in search of character, including two road trips from New York to California. Holly spends her free time hanging out with cats (her own or strays - either is fine) and swimming in the ocean (Atlantic or Pacific - either is fine). Her favorite stories to read and write feature women overcoming extraordinary circumstances. Currently, Holly is learning to paint and filling her walls with strange art.
CLICK HERE TO READ Holly Fontanetta PICTURE THIS POST STORIES
Nichole Gould — Review Writer, Books Calendar Manager
Today, she does things a little differently and her writing covers topics of disillusionment, nature, family, homecoming, and growth. She attempts to tackle these topics in an experimental and dreamy way, through both nonfiction and fiction, and sometimes, when she’s feeling confident, poetry. Nichole also spent a semester in Oregon, studying writing and hiking among the moss. Although she misses traveling, she enjoys exploring the magic of the Great Lakes in her home state of Michigan. When she’s not writing or traveling, you can find her reading, bookstore hopping, looking for her dream job as a recent grad, or hanging out with her 16-year-old cat, Kyle.
CLICK TO READ PICTURE THIS POST STORIES BY NICHOLE GOULD
Samantha Hartzell, NY Theater News Manager
Samantha Hartzell enjoys the art of telling stories. Hip hop dancing & singing are her favorite hobbies, along with reading novels. Samantha is very fond of nature and nutrition, and she hopes to travel as much as possible.
Max Harris-D’Amato — Writer
Max Harris-D’Amato is a freelance writer, who graduated from Columbia College Chicago in the spring of 2019 with a B.A. in multimedia journalism. In addition to both short and long form writing he has also directed a documentary, Surfing the Rust Belt, which he personally pitched, shot video, edited and conducted interviews for. In addition to writing, he has served with AmeriCorps on the Pacific Crest Trail and teaches English as a foreign language. He is passionate about traveling, current events and conservation.
Watch Max D’Amato’s film SURFING THE RUST BELT here.
Caryn Hoffman — Writer
Ms. Hoffman has a degree in art and her life’s work has been environmentally and politically focused. After community organizing on both coasts, she had a career as an educator in Southern California. Now, semi-retired, Ms. Hoffman leads an active, outdoor lifestyle, continues to advocate for the environment and travels. She is especially fond of art, film, cultural events and is an ardent, live music fan. She loves adventure travel including camping, hiking, kayaking, rafting and road biking.
Claire Hooper — Review Writer
Claire likes creepy! Claire likes weird too!
Whether it’s horror, fantasy or the screenplays and novels now being written in the back of her mind—Claire is drawn to the surreal. The more non-linear a story unfolds, the more Claire expects to love it and linger with it.
Her many friends who eagerly await baker Claire’s next batch of chocolate chip cookies need not fear that the love of horror and thrillers creeps into her sweet offerings. Those are long-held family recipes she safeguards to share with the circle of friends whom she loves to hang out with, whenever is not writing or studying.
Carmen Johnson, Calendar Manager – Art
Sitting at her father’s knee, young Carmen heard many a haint tale--- the ghost stories of the South and African- American lore. She thinks that these engaging yarns might have been what first sparked her fascination with writing stories, an avocation she has pursued since the first days she could read and write.
When she doesn’t have a virtual pen in hand, you’ll instead find Carmen carrying a camera. A Philly native, she and her friends started regular shutterbug outings to capture the vibrant murals that pepper Philadelphia’s landscape along with parks and gardens.
Peter Kachergis — Co-Publisher; Travel Photographer
Tarheel Peter moved to Chicago to study photography at the School of the Art Institute. He was a professional photographer briefly, but then turned his efforts to cabinetmaking and working with metal and wood. Periodically he would disband his carpentry company to travel to India or Indonesia for half a year or so, becoming a full-time photographer again. Then as now, he is energized by trying to capture a sense of place with his lens. In recent years, he and his writer wife, Amy Munice, became a travel writing team, and in late 2016 they co-founded Picture this Post.
TO SEE PETER KACHERGIS PHOTOGRAPHY ON PICTURE THIS POST CLICK HERE.
Lauren Katz — Writer
Lauren Katz hails from Washington DC, where she worked with Mosaic Theater Company of DC in Company Management. She recently moved to Chicago for the Artistic Apprenticeship at Steppenwolf Theatre Company, and since completing the program, has been freelancing in directing, dramaturgy, and teaching artistry. She has worked with various companies around the city including Mudlark Theater Company, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, About Face Theatre, Theater Wit, Prop Thtr, and Windy City Playhouse. Lauren graduated from Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio with a double major in Drama and English Literature.
Lily LeaVesseur — Writer
Lily LeaVesseur has harbored a fondness for the arts since she was a few months old, when her parents took her on her first of many stroller rides through the halls of the Art Institute of Chicago. Even after moving to San Diego as a child, she returned many times so that she could stare down her favorite pieces, combing them over again and again for clues to their greatness.
She carried this enthusiasm like a missionary, and in high school petitioned to re-open the single Art History course on the roster so that she could study it with her friends. She loved feeling like she could unlock some sort of intangible mystery behind works of art, and looking for herself within the artists that created them.
Since then Lily has continued to explore art both analytically and creatively. She now writes poetry and non-fiction, sometimes accompanied by illustrations or watercolor, and hopes to one day collect these works into a graphic novel. When she's not writing or drawing, she can otherwise be found skating with friends, experimenting with new food combinations, and/or lying on the floor contemplating the transcendental nature of TikTok.
CLICK HERE TO READ LILY LEAVESSEUR STORIES IN PICTURE THIS POST
Alexis Leonard — Writer, Review Editors Team Leader
Alexis Leonard’s passion for reading and writing began in the Hundred Acre Wood when she accompanied Christopher Robin and Winnie the Pooh on their friendly, imaginative adventures. At the age of seven, Alexis was inspired by this honey-loving bear and began writing her own short stories filled with magical kingdoms, eerie forests, and furry monsters. She is interested in international relations and foreign languages, practicing her language skills by reading short stories from around the globe and learning about literature from different cultures. In her spare time, you will find Alexis reading psychological thrillers, watching anime, or focusing on her own creative writing.
CLICK HERE TO READ Alexis Leonard STORIES IN PICTURE THIS POST
Susan Lieberman — Theater Assignment Editor
Susan Lieberman is a Jeff Award-winning, Emmy-nominated scriptwriter, journalist, literary consultant and leader of Stories in the Spotlight writing workshops. A Resident Playwright Alumnus at Chicago Dramatists, she is the author of Prairie Lights (licensed by Dramatic Publishing) Arrangement for Two Violas (New Plays from Chicago), Mi Coche, Mi Quince (licensed by YouthPLAYS) and many other dramas and musicals. She is currently working on a commission for BBC Radio and a solo show about Federal Theater Project director Hallie Flanagan.
CLICK HERE TO READ PICTURE THIS POST STORIES BY SUSAN LIEBERMAN
Theressa Malone — Paris Assistant Editor and Writer
Theressa is a writer and web developer based in France. Originally from New Zealand, she has worked as a writer and editor in Wellington, San Francisco, and Paris. She founded the literary journal Milly Magazine, and enjoys working with literature in translation.
CLICK HERE TO READ PICTURE THIS POST STORIES BY Theressa Malone
Madalena Martins — Writer
Madalena is a young writer and actress based in Chicago. She was born and raised in Lisbon (Portugal- the home of soccer and custard tarts) then moved to Mostar (Bosnia and Herzegovina), and finally made it to the United States! Her international background resulted in a deep love for languages, cultures, travelling, and food. She is also a lover of theatre, cinema, music, and literature. In her free time, she enjoys writing, going to the beach, doing improv comedy and sketches with friends, talking to strangers, and suffocating her dog with love.
Besides this, she is interested in climate activism, feminism, and queer studies, and is interested in the intersections between these fields.
CLICK HERE TO READ PICTURE THIS POST STORIES BY Madalena Martins
Cameron McKeon - Writer, Picture Postcard Editor
After Cameron McKeon spent 34 days walking the Camino de Santiago, he gained a new perspective on travel. The pilgrimage route in the north of Spain opened his eyes to experiencing new cultures through conversation, local cuisine, and studies. Cameron has traversed much of Europe, spending time in the Czech Republic, Germany, Ireland, Denmark, Sweden, France, and more. With a background in journalism and anthropology, he has an eagerness to write about his experiences abroad.
CLICK HERE TO READ PICTURE THIS POST STORIES BY Cameron McKeon
Amy Munice — Co-Publisher; Editor
Amy Munice is Editor-in-Chief and Co-Publisher of Picture This Post. She covers books, dance, film, theater, music, museums and travel. Prior to founding Picture This Post, Amy was a freelance writer and global PR specialist for decades—writing and ghostwriting thousands of articles and promotional communications on a wide range of technical and not-so-technical topics.
Amy hopes the magazine’s click-a-picture-to-read-a-vivid-account format will nourish those ever hunting for under-discovered cultural treasures. She especially loves writing articles about travel finds, showcasing works by cultural warriors of a progressive bent, and shining a light on bold, creative strokes by fledgling artists in all genres.
CLICK HERE TO READ PICTURE THIS POST ARTICLES BY AMY MUNICE; AND CLICK HERE TO READ AMY MUNICE JOINT PICTURE THIS POST TRAVEL ARTICLES WITH PETER KACHERGIS.
Elly Murray — Review Writer
Elly Murray decided she liked writing best at the ripe old age of six and has stubbornly refused to change her mind since. To this date, she has only published a few short stories and articles, but she hopes to someday publish a book or twelve.
When not writing, she can be found harassing her cat, attempting to keep her bookshelf from toppling over, or staring at an empty Google doc, hoping desperately that some words will show up.
For more info, visit Elly Murray
Anthony Neri — Writer, Review Editors Team Leader
An avid philosophizer and Dostoevsky fanboy, Anthony spends his time ruminating on very deep moral questions. Is he a genuine old soul or does he feign as much for the mystique?--perhaps a bit of both. When he isn't tormenting himself existentially, he reads fiction and translates ancient Greek and Latin texts, all the while developing his own literary flourishes with the hope of producing his very own dazzling prose. Cliche? Maybe. But he figures everyone starts out as a cliche.
CLICK HERE TO READ PICTURE THIS POST ARTICLES BY ANTHONY NERI
John Olson — New York Broadway Columnist; Writer
John is a lifelong arts carnivore who especially devours theatre, film, and music. After playing trombone in school orchestras and bands through college, and acting in plays, he thought it would be practical to tap those interests for a career in advertising, which he practiced for years – serving clients like McDonald’s, Bud Light, Sears, Oster and even the Chinese beer Tsingtao. He has been writing about theatre for various publications and websites since 1994, and since 2010 has been doing marketing and publicity for various Chicago theatres. John is currently the principal of John Olson Communications, a marketing and PR firm specializing in arts and entertainment.
Yash Pathak, Cinema Content Curator
Yash keeps an extensive back catalogue of ideas circulating around his head and his room- papers and papers of impractical but still meaningful thoughts written mostly in English, other times in Hindi, and sometimes in gibberish. There was a lot of his mind he found represented within the medium of film. Ever since discovering the likes of Truffaut and Godard, he started theorizing, thinking, and reading as much as he possibly could. He has a keen knowledge of niche facets of its history, and can give a lecture on just about any decade of movie-making. He keeps an eye and an ear on the heart of San Francisco, his home, and when he isn't writing he is working on making films, playing music, repairing old film projectors, curating art for small venues, sewing, or just relaxing in a park he will eventually get around to learning the name of.
Margaret Smith — Writer
Margaret Smith is a Chicago-based, multi-genre writer and editor. They are a graduate of Columbia College Chicago, a lover of all-things theater, and a crossword puzzle enthusiast. More of their work can be found on the Better Magazine website.
Ben West — Museum Content Curator
Benjamin West is a Filipino-American, born and raised in California. Having grown up somewhat disconnected culturally and physically from the Philippines, his connection to his heritage is bridged through eating copious amounts of lumpia and learning and writing about Filipino artists, one of whom was his grandfather. Ben spends most of his free time reading, listening to music, attempting to cook, and swimming.
Alex Winters — Writer, Album Calendar Manager
Although unsure of where his affinity for music and writing began, Alex Winters enjoys finding new, often unconventional music, reading novels, writing fiction inspired by the niche of eerie, post-apocalyptic sci-fi, and working on crossword puzzles. Being outdoors is another hobby he enjoys, which led him to take up long-distance running by himself at first, but he gradually warmed to the idea of meeting with a small running group (when it’s not freezing outside). When he isn’t listening to his instrumental rock playlists, writing, or both, he tries to find time to hike mountain trails with his family and friends.
