GW Clift (and Hannah)

G.W. Clift was born and raised in Winfield, Kansas. He worked as, among other things, a dance band musician, eventually moving north through the Flint Hills to Manhattan. During his years at Kansas State University he began placing stories, essays, and poems in literary magazines. He also founded Summer Conference for High School Writers and founded and edited Literary Magazine Review (to which he continues to contribute). He edited Kansas Quarterly and Touchstone while on the faculty at K-State. Beginning in the 1990s, he became the editor of the regional genre fiction magazine Twister. His story collection is Mustaches. A novel of his, The Trouble With Campus Security, is scheduled for publication in 2007. He joined the Mercury as a critic in 1992, and he manages a small farm. He has been married to the historian Cheryl Collins since 1975. Their son, John, has a schnauzer, Hannah.

In his blog, Clift intends to summarize his experiences as an Arts gourmand. Besides giving pointed reactions to movies he sees--some on home viewing media--he will detail what he has seen in McCain Auditorium, Nichols Theater, The Purple Masque Theater, The Manhattan Arts Center, and on stages in area schools and parks, in local dance halls and concert venues, at readings and recitals and festivals. When he goes to nearby cities or to London for plays or concerts, that will all be reported in the on-line journal. He will also give full reports of books he reads, and he manages to find some pretty good books.

Clift invites readers of this fortnightly series to send to the web site reading tips and tips for area play- and concert- and movie-going as well as their reactions to his comments.