Jan English Leary is the author of two books: Thicker Than Blood, a novel, and Skating on the Vertical, a collection of stories, both published by Fomite Press. Her work has appeared in Pleiades, The Minnesota Review, Carve, The Long Story, The Literary Review, and other journals. She taught fiction-writing at Francis W. Parker School and Northwestern University, and she is now a reader for the Pen-City Writing Program, a three-year, creative-writing certificate program for men incarcerated at a maximum security prison in southern Texas. Jan lives in Chicago with her husband, John Leary, a painter who did the cover art for both of her books.

Please join Jan and all our amazing readers on Saturday, September 22, upstairs at Hopleaf at 5:00 pm as part of Lit Crawl Chicago. Remember to RSVP on Facebook! This 21-and-older event is free.

Gina DeLuca is a comedic essayist and performer living in Chicago. Self-effacing and cynical, Gina's writing speaks to the American zeitgeist with relatability and ease. She has read her pieces at Steppenwolf Theater, iO Theater, Essay Fiesta, and other venues throughout Chicago.

Please join Gina and all our amazing readers on Saturday, September 22, upstairs at Hopleaf at 5:00 pm as part of Lit Crawl Chicago. Remember to RSVP on Facebook! This 21-and-older event is free.

You feel that? The weather is changing and Tuesday Funk is hear to help you usher in decorative gourd season! Join us in the upstairs lounge at Hopleaf on Tuesday, Oct. 2 for readings by Jenny Hatchadorian, Henri Harps, Dipika Mukherjee, Angel Simmons and Hannah Gamble!

As always, admission is free, but you must be 21 to attend. Doors open at 7pm sharp (don't dawdle if you want a seat!) and the show will start at 7:30pm. Please RSVP on Facebook -- and don't forget to like our page so you get our announcements right in your stream.

On Saturday, Sept. 22, Tuesday Funk will once again take part in Lit Crawl Chicago! Join us in our usual spot in the upstairs lounge at Hopleaf at 5 pm for readings by Kimberly Dixon-Mays, Annabel Lang, Jan English Leary and Gina DeLuca!

Lit Crawl Chicago is an attempt to pack as much of the city's literary culture as possible into one walkable radius. It's celebrating voices across the disciplines of writing, whether it's theatre makers, novelists, comedians, storytellers, satirists, live essayists, poetry, and others devoted to the written and spoken word. Events take place in bars, theaters, museums, coffee shops, comic shops, adult shops, and more!

As always, admission is free, but you must be 21 or older to enter. There will be shows before and after ours, so come early and stay late -- or head to one of the many other shows and venues in Andersonville!

August's hot, sultry weather weighed heavily on cohost Andrew Huff's mind (and body) at the 120th episode of Tuesday Funk.

Right place at right time
for a free beer to make the
whiskey taste sweeter.

Languid summer night.
So hot the cat will not chase
a house centipede.

Jazz Fest Saturday,
and skies stay clear in honor
of Ramsey Lewis.

Late summer downpours
turn city streets to streams
and preempt picnics.

It was so lovely celebrating Tuesday Funk's 10th anniversary (observed) on Sept. 4. The upstairs lounge at Hopleaf was packed with live lit lovers, and the guests brought their A game. Plus, there were cookies!

Mare Swallow kicked everything off with a crushing story of a crush unrequited, then former cohost William Shunn shared poems from past Tuesday Funks and today. Juan Martinez closed out the first half with an excerpt from a novel in progress that left everyone wanting more.

We took a break to refill our glasses and eat some of those cookies, then cohost Andrew Huff read some of his topical haiku. JH Palmer read an essay about playing with gender roles as a child, and finally C. Russell Price delivered some powerful poetry.

If you missed the show, you've got two upcoming opportunities to make up for it. Tuesday Funk will be part of Lit Crawl Chicago on Saturday, September 22, at 5pm in our usual spot at Hopleaf with readings by Kimberly Dixon-Mays, Annabel Lang, Jan English Leary and Gina DeLuca. See Lit Crawl Chicago on Facebook for more info about other shows. And then we will be back to our usual schedule on Tuesday, October 2, with readings by Jenny Hatchadorian, Hannah Gamble, Dipika Mukherjee, Angel Simmons and Henri Harps. Hope to see you at one or both of those shows!

Don't miss our 10th anniversary show! There will be readers - Juan Martinez, JH Palmer, C. Russell Price, William Shunn, and Mare Swallow, to be exact ! And hosts - Andrew Huff and Eden Robins! And good beer and good company, and after the show, all the mussels and frites you can stuff in your ham hole. Doors open at 7; hope to see you there!

C. Russell Price is an Appalachian genderqueer writer originally from Virginia. They are a Lambda Fellow in Poetry, Ragdale Fellow, Literary Death Match champion, Windy City Times 30 Under 30 honoree, and a Pushcart nominee. They are the author of Tonight, We Fuck the Trailer Park Out of Each Other (Sibling Rivalry Press) and a forthcoming collection of poetry (oh, you thought this was a date?!) and essay collection (Everyone Is Doing It; They Just Aren't Telling You).

Please join C. Russell and our other amazing readers on Tuesday, September 4, 2018 in the upstairs bar at Hopleaf. Doors open at 7pm, and the show starts at 7:30. It's free, and 21-and-over. Please RSVP on Facebook.

JH Palmer is a writer, performer, and post-it note artist. Her superpowers include the ability to smoke just one cigarette and not want more, communicating with small animals, and using public transportation - but not all at the same time.

Please join JH and our other amazing readers on Tuesday, September 4, 2018 in the upstairs bar at Hopleaf. Doors open at 7pm, and the show starts at 7:30. It's free, and 21-and-over. Please RSVP on Facebook.

Juan Martinez is the author of Best Worst American, a story collection published by Small Beer Press and the inaugural winner of the Neukom Institute Award for Debut Speculative Fiction. He lives in Chicago and is an assistant professor at Northwestern University. His work has appeared in many literary journals and anthologies, including Glimmer Train, McSweeney's, Huizache, Ecotone, NPR's Selected Shorts, Mississippi Review and elsewhere. Visit and say hi at fulmerford.com.

Please join Juan and our other amazing readers on Tuesday, September 4, 2018 in the upstairs bar at Hopleaf. Doors open at 7pm, and the show starts at 7:30. It's free, and 21-and-over. Please RSVP on Facebook.