It's a new year soon -- refresh and look ahead to 2016 with for your favorite eclectic monthly reading series! We'll be back in the upstairs lounge at Hopleaf, 5148 N. Clark St., on Tuesday, Jan. 5 with guests Christopher Sweet, Robert O'Connor, Mare Swallow, Lori Rader-Day and Chuck Sudo. Eden Robins and Andrew Huff co-host.

As usual, doors open at 7:00 pm -- no earlier, we're serious. Don't ruin it for everyone else. But do get there as close to 7 as you can, because the room fills up quickly (hence no admittance before 7). The show starts at 7:30 pm. Admission is free, but you must be 21 or older.

Don't forget to RSVP on Facebook and bring a friend. And if you're not already, become a fan so you never, ever miss an invitation to one of our readings.

Holy standing room only, Batman! This was a popular show... and for good reason! Clayton Smith started us off strong with an excerpt from his new novel Anomaly Flats, about adventure and fantastical... anomalies in rural Missouri. Next up was Gint Aras, reading from his new novel The Fugue, about secrets, neighborliness, and the displacement that comes with immigration. And Britt Julious ended the first half with a powerful essay about the fears and bodily perils of traveling around Chicago as a woman.

We swarmed Jason for drinks, and he responded admirably.

After intermission, Bill Savage read an essay about why we should stop using the classist and divisive term "dive bars," and James Gordon (aka G.P.A.) wrapped up the evening with a true story about a frightening run-in with gun violence as a young man.

It was really a stellar show, and if you missed it, then you are sorry you missed it. But you don't have to miss any more! Tuesday Funk #89 will be on Tuesday, January 5, featuring Christopher Sweet, Robert O'Connor, Mare Swallow, Lori Rader-Day, and Chuck Sudo!

It's the last Tuesday Funk of 2015! Don't miss Clayton Smith, Gint Aras, James Gordon, Bill Savage, and Britt Julious! And, of course, your humble co-hosts Andrew Huff and Eden Robins.

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!

James Gordon better known as G.P.A. (Greatest Poet Alive) is an international award winning author and poet and was recently named UBAWA's Children's Author of the Year. He can be seen on episodes of Chicago Fire, Chicago PD, Chicago Med, Empire, and Shameless, as well as the movies "Animals " and "A Slice of Life."

Please join G.P.A. and all our amazing readers on Tuesday, December 1, 2015, upstairs at Hopleaf at 7:30 pm. This 21-and-older event is free.

Gint Aras is the author of the cross-generational family epic, The Fugue, set for release in December from The Chicago Center for Literature and Photography. His writing has appeared in The St. Petersburg Review, Quarterly West, Curbside Splendor, Antique Children, Dialogo and other publications. He's a photographer and the author of the cult novel, Finding the Moon in Sugar.

Please join Gint and all our amazing readers on Tuesday, December 1, 2015, upstairs at Hopleaf at 7:30 pm. This 21-and-older event is free.

Britt Julious is a journalist, critic and essayist. She currently serves as the local music columnist for the Chicago Tribune and contributes regularly to Vice magazine, The Guardian, Pitchfork, and MTV News where she is interested in writing about the intersection of race, gender, pop culture and sexuality. In 2014, Buzzfeed named her one of the "21 Amazing Role Models for Twentysomethings," fulfilling her dream of being on some form of a 30 under 30 list before turning 30. She currently hosts "The Back Talk," an award-winning podcast featuring original stories from young women of color. Talk to her after this show if you're obsessed with "Jane the Virgin."

Please join Britt and all our amazing readers on Tuesday, December 1, 2015, upstairs at Hopleaf at 7:30 pm. This 21-and-older event is free.

Clayton Smith is a writer of speculative fiction whose work includes the play Death and McCootie and the novels Apocalypticon, Anomaly Flats, and Mabel Gray and the Wizard Who Swallowed the Sun. Some of his nonsense has been featured on Write City Magazine and Dumb White Husband, and his plays have been produced rather mercilessly all over the country.

Please join Clayton and all our amazing readers on Tuesday, December 1, 2015, upstairs at Hopleaf at 7:30 pm. This 21-and-older event is free.

Bill Savage teaches Chicago literature, film, history, and culture at Northwestern University and the Newberry Library of Chicago. He regularly writes book reviews for the Chicago Tribune, op-ed essays for Crain's Chicago Business, various random things for other publications with "Chicago" on their mastheads, as well as performing live-lit essays for The Paper Machete and other venues. His most recent book project, with Paul Durica, was an edited and annotated edition of Chicago by Day and Night: The Pleasure-Seeker's Guide to the Paris of America, an in-the-know guide Chicago nightlife during the 1893 World's Fair. He is currently at work on edited and annotated editions of Ben Hecht's autobiography and George Ade's The Old-Time Saloon, both forthcoming from the University of Chicago Press. You can follow him on Twitter @rogersparkman.

Please join Bill and all our amazing readers on Tuesday, December 1, 2015, upstairs at Hopleaf at 7:30 pm. This 21-and-older event is free.

The chill is in the air and the holiday season is well under way, but make sure to leave room for you favorite! eclectic monthly reading series! We are back in the upstairs lounge at Hopleaf, 5148 N. Clark St., on Tuesday, Dec. 1 with guests Clayton Smith, Gint Aras, James Gordon, Bill Savage and Britt Julious. Eden Robins and Andrew Huff co-host, and Jason will be behind the bar to provide you with libations.

Doors open at 7:00 pm -- no earlier, we're serious. Don't ruin it for everyone else. But do get there as close to 7 as you can, because the room fills up quickly (hence no admittance before 7). The show starts at 7:30 pm. Admission is free, but you must be 21 or older.

Don't forget to RSVP on Facebook and bring a friend. And if you're not already, become a fan so you never, ever miss an invitation to one of our readings.

Co-host Andrew Huff read a fresh crop of topical haiku at the Nov. 3rd edition of Tuesday Funk.

That familiar phrase,
"Wait till next year," once again
echoes through Wrigley.

A runaway blimp
held our attention as long
as most school shootings.

Governor Rauner
jousts with Rahm while the budget
sleeps with the fishes.

Halloween candy
has a clear hierarchy.
What's last on your list?

El Nino pattern
promises a warm winter.
But our lake needs snow.

Too nice a winter
could precede drought next summer.
A Faustian bargain.