Mare Swallow is the founder and Executive Director of the Chicago Writers Conference, an organization that exists to connect writers to publishing professionals...and each other! CWC will feature a Self-Publishing Workshop in March. She is also a professional speaker and public speaking coach, and the author of 21 Ways to Engage Your Audience, available only on Amazon. Mare lives in Chicago, loves to travel and loves red wine.

Please join Mare and all our stellar, audience-engaging readers on Tuesday, February 4th, 2014, upstairs at Hopleaf at 7:30 pm. This 21-and-older event is free.

Warm yourself by the fire of literary passion at the February edition of Tuesday Funk. The roster will feature Mare Swallow, Cameron McGill, Tom Underberg, Amelia Beamer and Chuck Sudo. We'll also have a round of Haiku by Andrew, a micro-essay by Eden, and cheek-warming beers from around the world.

The evening gets underway with your hosts Andrew Huff and Eden Robins on Tuesday, February 4th, 2014, 7:30 pm, in the upstairs lounge at Hopleaf, 5148 N. Clark St., Chicago. Doors open at 7:00 pm, no earlier -- arrive early for a table and grab a beer from Mark at the bar. Admission is always free, but you must be 21 or older. And come early or stay late after for some great Belgian-style food downstairs.

Bring a friend, and become a fan of Tuesday Funk on Facebook so you never miss an invitation to one of our readings. See you there!

At the January 7 edition of Tuesday Funk, co-host Andrew Huff read his trademark topical haiku to help warm the crowd.

The Polar Vortex
turned Chicago into tundra.
Thank you for coming.

Holidays always
get insane. Here's to good cheer and
a happy new year.

The full moon rises
the wan color of bone through
cold wisps of cloud.

Feet freeze in our boots,
crunching through barriers of
dirty, hardened snow.

After nearly 48 hours of Arctic windchills, we certainly weren't expecting a standing-room-only event, but that was what we got! Spectacular turnout for the first Tuesday Funk of 2014, and some spectacular readers to boot. Christopher Sweet started us off right with a funny and bittersweet story of the lasting effects of a repressive childhood, complete with references to both Job and Bluebeard. Kelly Swails followed with a compelling Depression-era story of loss, regret, and fortune-telling. Our regular feature Haiku by Andrew had us all chuckling at our weather woes. Christa Desir rounded out the inning with a dark sex scene from her edgy 'Sid & Nancy' YA novel, Bleed Like Me.

As Christa warned us, we all needed a drink after her reading. Following a brief intermission where we threw ourselves at Mark, we were introduced to new co-host Eden Robins' first micro-essay about fecal transplant follies. Jasmine Davila spoke from the heart about growing up in the foster system and struggling to find herself. Ryan Bartelmay finished us off with a couple of funny and pathos-filled excerpts from his novel Onward Toward What We're Going Toward, all about what it means when one's talent turns out to be haiku.

That's all she wrote! If you missed Tuesday Funk, don't do it again! It was an incredibly special evening, and we're doing it again on Tuesday, February 4th, 2014 with Mare Swallow, Cameron McGill, Tom Underberg, Amelia Beamer, and Chuck Sudo!

Don't forget--tonight is Tuesday Funk's 65th episode, featuring Kelly Swails, Christopher Sweet, Christa Desir, Jasmine Davila, and Ryan Bartelmay! Don't miss it! Unless you have the flu, in which case -- miss it! But know that we will miss you.

Our readings take place at Hopleaf Bar, 5148 N. Clark St. in Chicago. We get started promptly at 7:30 pm in the upstairs lounge. Arrive early if you want a seat--but no earlier than 7:00 pm. Our readings are free, but only those 21 and over will be admitted. No food can be brought in from the restaurant. See you there!

G.P.A. shared the story of standing up to a school bully at our December 3rd edition of Tuesday Funk.

As it happens, it was a continuation of a story he told at our June 4 edition (video of which was unfortunately lost due to battery issues).

If you liked what you heard, please come out to our next event on Tuesday, January 7, 2014, which features readings from Ryan Bartelmay, Kelly Swails, Christa Desir, Jasmine Davila, and Christopher Sweet — as well as more haiku from Andrew and the debut of new co-host Eden Robins. See you there!

At the November 5th edition of Tuesday Funk, Rosamund Lannin shared the story of a seminal Halloween costume and the myths and origin stories of family.

And if you enjoyed that, please come out to our next show on Tuesday, January 7, 2014, which features readings from Ryan Bartelmay, Kelly Swails, Christa Desir, Jasmine Davila, and Christopher Sweet — as well as more haiku from Andrew and the debut of new co-host Eden Robins. Happy new year!

Ryan Bartelmay graduated from the University of Iowa in 1998, where he was a member of the Undergraduate Writer's Workshop, and then went on to Columbia University to receive an MFA in fiction writing in 2005. His debut novel, Onward Toward What We're Going Toward, was released in August 2013 by IG Publishing.

His short fiction has appeared in The Greensboro Review, Sycamore Review, Opium, Phoebe: A Journal of Arts and Letters, and Sweet Fancy Moses. Ryan has published non-fiction and other miscellanea in The Believer, Time Out: Chicago, Gadfly, and more. He is the Dean of General Education at Kendall College in Chicago and has been a member of the Gotham Writers' Workshop faculty since 2005. You can find him online at ryanbartelmay.com.

He lives in Chicago with his wife, daughter and two cats.

Please join Ryan and all our top-notch, cat-loving readers on Tuesday, January 7th, 2014, upstairs at Hopleaf at 7:30 pm. This 21-and-older event is free.

At the December 2013 edition of Tuesday Funk, co-host Andrew Huff read some of his patented seasonal haiku ...tinged with a little sadness.

O'Hare and Midway
I-90 and toll roads,
packed with travelers.

Football on TV,
Black Friday shopping plans made,
family's all here.

Roast turkey, stuffing,
green bean casserole and pie.
Happy Thanksgiving!

Tonight Tuesday Funk
loses co-host Bill Shunn
...to New York City!?

But we're not bitter.
We'll see him again. Meanwhile,
welcome Eden Robins.

And if you enjoyed that, please come out to our next event on Tuesday, January 7, 2014, which features readings from Ryan Bartelmay, Kelly Swails, Christa Desir, Jasmine Davila, and Christopher Sweet — as well as more haiku from Andrew and the debut of new co-host Eden Robins. Start the new year right!

Jasmine Davila started her first blog in 2000, and has been over-sharing on the internet ever since. She is a contributor for Gapers Block, the greatest Chicago-centric blog that ever blogged, and Asian pop culture blog Disgrasian.com. Jasmine has read essays about her non-existent love life (and her part-time cat-sitting business) at Solo in the 2nd City and That's All She Wrote, and recently performed in 20x2 Chicago.

Jasmine is a graduate of The University of Chicago, that little school on the South Side that originally brought her to Chicago almost 20 years ago. Despite this, Jasmine insists that she is still a New Yorker, and will buy you all the "soda" in the world to prove it.

Please join Jasmine and all our talented regional dialect aficionados on Tuesday, January 7th, 2014, upstairs at Hopleaf at 7:30 pm. This 21-and-older event is free.