Attention, Funkers! Our longtime co-host William Shunn will be appearing next week in not one but two of Chicago's most thrilling other reading series. They'll be on consecutive nights, no less, so please block out Tuesday and Wednesday evenings on your calendar!

First comes WRITE CLUB, on Tuesday, April 16th, at The Hideout. In this bare-knuckle series, three pairs of writers square off with essays on opposing topics. The audience decides who wins, with all proceeds going to charities of the winners' choice. Bill will be defending GOD over DEVIL, for the One Tail at a Time dog rescue organization. Tickets are $10 cash at the door. Arrive early!

And the following night, Wednesday, April 17th, Bill will be part of CHIRP Radio's THE FIRST TIME at Second City's new UP Comedy Club. This monthly series assembles seven or so writers to reminisce about an important "first" from their lives, backed with specially chosen songs by The First Time Three. For April the topic will be "First Crime." Tickets are $10, and buying in advance is strongly recommended. (And get preferred seating with a dinner reservation!)

To recap...

We hope you'll come out to one or both of these events and help support the amazing and vibrant "live lit" scene in Chicago. And if you run into Bill, say hello and tell him Tuesday Funk sent you!

Tuesday Funk is proud to inaugurate its association with Gapers Block at our April 2nd reading, by welcoming Andrew Huff as our new co-host!

Gapers Block is a Chicago-centric online publication founded in 2003 with the intent of getting people to slow down and check out their city. An all-volunteer staff writes news, events and commentary about Chicago and its multifaceted people and neighborhoods. Gapers Block has covered Tuesday Funk since its early days, and Gapers Block founder and publisher Andrew Huff is proud to be involved in its latest evolution.

So please join us on April 2nd to hear our great readers, Mary Robinette Kowal, Jeremy Jasper, Wesley Chu, Regan Keeter, and Tuesday Funk co-founder Reinhardt Suarez, and to help us welcome Andrew aboard!

As announced at February's Tuesday Funk, I, Sara Ross Witt, will be hosting this exciting reading series for my last time on Tuesday, March 5th. I cannot express how fun it has been to see this reading grow into what it is, and how fun it has been to help it along in the minuscule ways that I have.

While I am resigning as co-producer and co-host of Tuesday Funk, I am not leaving. This is not good-bye. Instead, this is my chance to say what I've kept in my heart these last three years: thank you, thank you, THANK YOU.

To our readers, you are wonderful and inspiring. Each and every one of you have been very sweet to me, to Bill, to our series. Thank you to our fans and supporters, seeing you every month melts away any stress I carry with me for at least two magical hours.

To Reinhardt Suarez who recommended me for the position, thank you for sharing Tuesday Funk with me. I'm grateful every day to have met you at New School many years ago and to have continued our friendship through yet another reading series!

To Hallie Palladino and Connor Coyne, thank you for placing the care of your beloved series into our hands and thank you for trusting us with its care and growth.

Thank you to Hopleaf, Johnny, and Mark for providing us with a fabulous space, friendship, and tasty drinks. Most especially I want to thank my co-host William Shunn and his lovely wife Laura. They are the heart and soul of Tuesday Funk, growing and innovating the series, as well as turning it into a warm, welcoming family. Bill and Laura, thank you for all that you do for Tuesday Funk, for being my second family and supporting me through the ups (marriage, baby) and downs (major car accident!) of my life, and for believing in me.

I am also delighted to introduce my successor Andrew Huff, founder of Gapers Block. I know he and Bill will do amazing things with Tuesday Funk. I look forward to sitting in the audience the first Tuesday of every month, listening to the talented readers, enjoying a drink (or two) and watching the series evolve!

So please join us for my farewell party and to hear our outstanding readers on Tuesday, March 5, 7:30 pm, in the upstairs lounge at Hopleaf?

Julia Borcherts is a 2nd Story company member, a co-founder and co-host of the literary series Reading Under the Influence and The Chicago Way, a fiction writing instructor at Columbia College Chicago, a theater columnist for the RedEye, and a frequent contributor to Time Out Chicago and the Windy City Times.

Julia will be reading as part of our mini-series featuring writers from the new 2nd Story anthology Briefly Knocked Unconscious by a Low-Flying Duck. Hear her and the rest of our outstanding readers on Tuesday, December 4, 7:30 pm, in the upstairs lounge at Hopleaf.

Hey, Funkers! Our co-host William Shunn will be appearing tonight with Roosevelt University's Gary K. Wolfe on "Extension 720 with Milt Rosenberg" on WGN Radio 720 AM. They'll be talking about science fiction—particularly today's release of the Library of America's new collection, American Science Fiction: Nine Classic Novels of the 1950s, which Mr. Wolfe edited.

Milt Rosenberg's show has run since 1973, during which time he's talked with an intimidating array of world leaders, prominent academics, and entertainment figures. Tonight's program airs live from 10 p.m. to midnight. You can also listen online, or a podcast of the discussion will be available in a few days. We hope you'll tune in!

(And for more information about the collection, please visit the American Science Fiction companion site, which Gary curated.)

A few weeks ago, Andrew Huff of Gapers Block issued a fascinating challenge to Tuesday Funk co-host William Shunn: to take a piece of original poster art by Chad Kouri and produce a piece of writing of between 1,500 and 2,500 words to accompany it.

The resulting art/writing combo, along with seven other collaborations between artists and writers, will be on display and on sale at The Coop on May 18th. All the info is below. Hope to see you there, Funkers!

8 x 8
Friday, May 18, 2012
6:00 pm until 10:00 pm

The COOP | A co-working space in River North
230 W Superior, 2F, Chicago, IL 60654

In the spirit of artistic collaboration, The Coop and Gapers Block teamed up to produce 8x8, an experiment in writing and design. Eight Chicagoland designers were paired with eight local writers to create collaborative works, with text informing and influencing art and vice versa. The results of this experiment are presented in limited edition poster form, with writing and design back to back.

Writers:
Patrick Somerville, Claire Zulkey, Ramsin Canon, Kevin Guilfoile, William Shunn, Veronica Bond, Wendy McClure, Scott Smith

Designers:
Jesse Hora, Andy Luce, Chad Kouri, Ina Weise, Letterform, Ryan Sievert, Paul Octavious, Kyle Fletcher

Proceeds benefit Open Books.

More info: http://blog.coworkchicago.com/post/22148593743/the-coop-presents-8x8
RSVP on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/events/375591619149230/

Happy Monday, Funk buddies! Can you spot one of our elusive co-hosts, approximately nine years younger, in this recently unearthed 2004 segment from the Trio network television series Parking Lot? We'll give you one small hint: not in costume!

But whether or not you can, you can find both our co-hosts plus a bulging roster of great readers tomorrow night, Tuesday, February 7, 2012, at 7:30 pm in the upstairs lounge at Hopleaf, when we'll bring you great readings from Julia Borcherts, Lauryn Allison Lewis, Margie Skelly, Dustin Monk, and Lillian Huang Cummins.

Don't get stuck in the parking lot! Be there early to be sure of a seat.

You know William Shunn as a co-host of Tuesday Funk, the guy who does those wacky poems every month. But he's also a blogger, a podcaster, a programmer, a designer, an inventor, a collector, a cabinetmaker, a bowler, a moviegoer, a foodie, a traveler, a tinkerer, a priest, an atheist, a curmudgeon, a felon, a photographer, a chauffeur, a skeptic, a rube, a ruffian, a layabout, a lurker, a dilettante, a poseur, a pundit, a primate, an ancestor, an earthling, an alien, a canvas, a convenience, an improvisation, an illusion, and occasionally a writer. His latest project is a young-adult science fiction novel which currently goes by the name Waking Vishnu, and which you can read a very brief snippet from here. He also wishes you would bug him more about going to the gym.

Please join us to hear Bill read an actual short story on Tuesday, January 3, 2012, at 7:30 pm in Hopleaf's upstairs bar, together with our great lineup of Stephen Markley, Lawrence Santoro, Holly McDowell, and Christopher Sweet!

Just a quick reminder that your Tuesday Funk co-host William Shunn will be appearing at Essay Fiesta at The Book Cellar in Lincoln Square tonight at 7:00 pm.

This charitable monthly reading series benefits 826CHI, a Chicago non-profit writing and tutoring program. Please bring a bit of money for a donation or for the raffle, and arrive nice and early for a seat. See you there!

We just want to give you a quick heads-up that your Tuesday Funk co-host William Shunn will be appearing as part of the Essay Fiesta reading series at The Book Cellar in Lincoln Square this coming Monday, December 19th, at 7:00 pm.

It'll be Bill's third time reading at Essay Fiesta, a monthly charitable reading series that benefits 826CHI, a non-profit writing and tutoring program here in Chicago, and he's very excited to be asked back. Hosts Alyson Lyon and Keith Ecker (both of whom have read for us at the Funk) do a fantastic job of putting together a great program every month. Also appearing on Monday will be Dana Norris, J.H. Palmer, Jennifer Bosworth, and Eric Bjorlin. Please turn out and support the whole gang.

The Book Cellar, we should mention, is a wonderful place for a reading. It's a lovely independent bookstore and café, with beer, wine, and coffee available during their events. The reading itself is free, with fun prizes raffled and donation accepted on behalf of 826CHI. Show up early to be sure of a seat.