Samantha Irby writes dick jokes on the internet. Find them at bitchesgottaeat.com and irbyandian.com.

Kristin Lueke once lived in Southern California for 17 years in a row, if you can believe it. Her poems have been published in NAP, Untoward Magazine, the Acentos Review, and elsewhere. Her first chapbook, (in)Different Math, is forthcoming this summer from Dancing Girl Press.

She sometimes reads not-poetry at the sometimes monthly but mostly sporadic reading series Ray's. No matter what she tells you, she knows nothing about science.

Alex Shakar's latest novel, Luminarium, was this year's winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Fiction. It was also named a Notable Book of the year by The Washington Post, an Editor's Choice by The New York Times, and a best book of the year by Publishers Weekly, Booklist, the Austin Chronicle, and the Kansas City Star.

His novel The Savage Girl was a New York Times Notable Book. His story collection City in Love won the FC2 National Fiction Competition.

A Brooklyn native, he now lives in Chicago.

Jennifer Schaefer was born in nineteen seventy-something in Waukegan. She grew up in Illinois and Wisconsin, but spent her roaring twenties in London, where she lived in youth hostels, an assortment of squalid flats, a rundown old pub, and worked such varied jobs as barmaid, singer in a punk band, TV extra, financial advisor and fashion model.

You can read a chapter from her recently completed novel, The Salamander's Slipper, in the Spring 2012 print issue of Curbside Splendor literary journal. She's currently seeking a home for this book while working on a second, a supernatural adventure story set in a Renaissance faire. You can find her online at www.jenschaefer.com, and in-the-flesh in Evanston, where she's happily encumbered with a limey husband and their two lovely sprogs.

Originally a theater performer for 25 years, Dion Walton has been writing for the past 10. He's a published writer, OUR LEGACIES (Writings from Chicago's Older Gay Men), a singer, and an artist that has presented artwork in art galleries in the Chicago area.

At present he is writing his autobiography, The Happening, and also writing and performing with The Goodman Theater.

Follow him on Facebook via his page, "Where is Dion Now."

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/

At our April Tuesday Funk reading, Nebula Award-winning author Richard Chwedyk shared with us the prologue of a novel written by a dinosaur who's a character in his ... um, hey, let's just let Rich explain!

And if you enjoyed that, please join us on Tuesday, June 5th, 2012 for more great readings from Samantha Irby, Kristin Lueke, Dion Walton, Jennifer Schaefer, and L.A. Times Book Prize recipient Alex Shakar. Be there!

Greetings, science fiction writers from around the world! This is a friendly reminder that Tuesday Funk wants you as a reader for our September 4th edition!

With the 70th World Science Fiction Convention coming to Chicago from August 30 to September 3rd, we couldn't just sit back and not try to lure some of the best of today's speculative fiction writers into our cozy little lair, so here's the deal.

We're looking for five writers to read for us on September 4th, the night after Worldcon ends. If you're a professionally published science fiction or fantasy writer who will be in town for Worldcon and you plan to stick around Chicago for an extra day or two afterward, please submit a work of up to 2,500 words to tuesdayfunkchicago@gmail.com. This can be a complete short story or a novel excerpt. Use "Post-Worldcon Reading" as your subject line. (Please see our guidelines page for a complete explanation of how to submit.)

Submissions must be received by Tuesday, May 22, 2012, to be considered for one of these five slots. Decisions on the lineup will be made by Tuesday, June 5, 2012, and announced at the Tuesday Funk reading that evening.

In the past we've hosted such names as Jody Lynn Nye, Richard Chwedyk, Mary Anne Mohanraj, Brenda Cooper, and Steven H Silver, and in the months to come we'll bring you Alex Shakar, Holly McDowell, and more. Want to add your name to that roster? Drop us a line!

And if you're a science fiction fan, please mark September 4th on your calendar. It's going to be a terrific evening!

At our April Tuesday Funk reading, Mary Anne Mohanraj shared her (NSFW) short story "The Night Air," and it went a little something like this...

And if you enjoyed that, please join us on Tuesday, June 5th, 2012 for more great readings from Samantha Irby, Kristin Lueke, Dion Walton, Jennifer Schaefer, and L.A. Times Book Prize recipient Alex Shakar. Be there!

Good morning, Funkers! Your humble co-host regrets the tardiness of this debriefing, but (as you know if you were there) he very regrettably was unable to attend our 45th edition this past Tuesday evening. However, by all reports we hear that co-host Sara Ross Witt and substitute co-host Mare Swallow had the evening well in hand, and the readers were as fine as you have come to expect.

In lieu of the usual play-by-play, let us present instead a gallery of photographs from the evening provided by local artist Kevin Swallow. Please enjoy this pictorial recap (click the photo to the right to get started), and then plan to join us again on Tuesday, June 5th for a terrific evening with Samantha Irby, Kristin Lueke, Dion Walton, Jennifer Schaefer, and Alex Shakar!