Ian Belknap is a Chicago writer/performer who is the host/curator/Overlord of WRITE CLUB, the nation's premiere competitive philanthropic readings series, monthly at the Hideout. He also serves as the Fact Checker in The Encyclopedia Show, monthly at the Vittum Theater,...  read

J.H. Palmer is a secret writer who has lived in Chicago since pretty much forever. Her writing has appeared in Gapers Block, Mr. Beller's Neighborhood, Babble, and Christopher Street.  Her superpowers include the ability to name any song that aired...  read

Robert K. Elder is a journalist, author, film columnist and a regional editor of AOL's Patch.com in Chicago. Pulitzer-winner Studs Terkel calls Elder "a journalist in the noblest tradition" in his introduction to Elder's book, Last Words of the Executed....  read

Lisa Chalem has loved writing since childhood when she and her best friend wrote a three page screenplay about two friends who realize fame and fortune as world renowned disco dancers. Her blog, Feel the Love. Eat the Food, chronicles...  read

Hey, Funkers, we're delighted to welcome author and journalist Robert K. Elder to our April 5th lineup. Rob's upcoming book is It Was Over When...: True Tales of Romantic Dead Ends. He discussed his previous effort, The Film That Changed...  read

For the past thirty or so years, Joe Weintraub has been publishing fiction, essays, translations, and poetry in all sorts of literary reviews and periodicals, from The Massachusetts Review to Modern Philology. He has had one-act plays produced in New...  read

Steven H Silver is a publisher, editor, author, poet, and reviewer ... in his "free time." When he isn't messing around in the literary arts, he raises his two daughters, spends time with his wife, and shores up the foundation...  read

Keith Ecker is the co-producer of Essay Fiesta, a monthly reading series at the Book Cellar. He has been invited to read at numerous shows throughout Chicago. He is also a professional freelance writer, specializing in travel, technology and law,...  read

Jenny Seay was in the third grade when she first decided to be a writer. Her pursuit of this dream has never been simple or straightforward, but she continues to follow it anyway, knowing that the journey has taken her to some...  read

Maggie Kast grew up with egg nog on Christmas morning and clambakes on the beach in summer. She learned to cook from Fannie Farmer and Julia Child, while marriage broadened her horizons to inlcude Tafelspitz and Salburger Nockerln. Her M.F.A.—Writing...  read