Fiction Videos

Video: Kelly Swails goes on a schoolroom rampage

At our November 6th edition of Tuesday Funk, Kelly Swails read us her not-so-light fantasy story "Vanessa MacAvoy's Statement," and it sounded a little like this... And if you enjoyed that, please join us at 7:30 pm on Tuesday, January 1st, 2013, upstairs

Readings Hopleaf

Tuesday Funk #53: January 1, 2013

Good news. Your friends at Tuesday Funk have your New Year's Day hangover cure all figured out!  Just order yourself a little hair of the dog, stir in five great readers with a smidgen of fiction, some essays, and a little poetry, and you'll be feeling

Debriefings Reading #52

December debriefing

If you were at Tuesday Funk this week, then you know something very special happened.  And we're not just talking about that extra closeness you experienced with your neighbors in the jam-packed upstairs lounge at Hopleaf.  We're talking about what happened behind the microphone, and

Reading #52

Reminder: Tuesday Funk #52 is tonight!

Come kick off the holiday season in style tonight with your friends at Tuesday Funk,  Chicago's eclectic reading series where good writing and good beer mix! It our 52nd big episode, and we're pleased to present the first in a series of readings featuring authors from

Essays Videos

Video: B. E. Pinkham tries to avoid a hard truth

At our November 6th edition of Tuesday Funk, B. E. Pinkham brought us a funny and heartfelt chapter from her memoir Let Me Look at You, and it sounded a little like this... And if you enjoyed that, please join us at 7:30 pm on December 4th, upstairs at

Participants Reading #52

Meet Our Readers: Maggie Kast

Maggie Kast is the author of The Crack Between the Worlds: A Dancer's Memoir. Her stories have appeared in The Sun, Nimrod, Rosebud, and others, and essays in America, Writers Chronicle, and Image. She's currently at work on a novel, I Never Knew You Had a

Essays Videos

Video: Mary Zemaitis was a teenage "Jesus Freak"

At our November 6th edition of Tuesday Funk, Mary Zemaitis bravely confessed her past as a teenage "Jesus Freak," and it sounded a little like this... And if you enjoyed that, please join us at 7:30 pm on December 4th, upstairs at Hopleaf, for an evening with

Participants Reading #52

Meet Our Readers: Stephen Markley

Stephen Markley, author of Publish This Book: The Unbelievable True Story of How I Wrote, Sold, and Published This Very Book, will be reading from a new essay, available on Kindle and iBooks, called The Great Dysmorphia: An Epistemological View of Ingesting Hallucinogenic Mushrooms at a 2012 Republican Presidential Debate.

Poetry Videos

Video: William Shunn brings you this evening's "Tasting Notes"

At our November 6th edition of Tuesday Funk, co-host William Shunn read us some "Tasting Notes" straight from the Hopleaf beer menu... And if you found that tasty, you'll get another Poem by Bill at our December 4th reading, which will also feature Julia Borcherts,

Participants Reading #52

Meet Our Readers: Jodi Eichelberger

Jodi Eichelberger has been featured as a storyteller in New York City at The Moth, SpeakEasy Stories, and Stories for the Hairdresser, which he also produced. He is currently writing a collection of essays with the working title Audience of One, which he hopes is not a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Readings Participants

Lineup shuffle for December 4th

We at Tuesday Funk are always bummed when our readers must drop out for one reason or another.  And since every good story needs a villain, for our December 4th reading we can blame the absence of CP Chang and Derek Silver on The Man.  We were very much looking

Participants Other Series

Meet Our Readers: Andrew Reilly

Andrew Reilly is the director of publishing for 2nd Story and co-editor of the anthology Briefly Knocked Unconscious by a Low-Flying Duck. His work, much of which was written in Uptown, has appeared in a number of fine publications.  Visit him there in person, or online at AndrewReilly.

Personnel Other Series

Meet Our Readers: Julia Borcherts

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

Readings Hopleaf

Tuesday Funk #52: December 4, 2012

Come kick off the holiday season in style with your friends at Tuesday Funk,  Chicago's eclectic reading series where good writing and good beer mix! We're pleased to present the first in a series of readings featuring authors from the new 2nd Story essay anthology Briefly

Debriefings Reading #51

November debriefing

Last night was Election Night, and we know you've been waiting with bated breath to find out what happened.  So without further ado, here's a recap of last night's events ... from the Election Night Edition of Tuesday Funk at Hopleaf Bar! We started things

Hopleaf Fiction

Reminder: Tuesday Funk #51 is tonight!

It's a real horse race tonight, and the stakes are huge! But no matter which team you're backing, you can take refuge from the stress of election returns tonight at Hopleaf, as your good friends from Tuesday Funk bring you our 51st big episode! Our terrific

Fiction Videos

Video: For Halloween, a game of blind cat and mouse

Happy Halloween, Funkers!  At our October 2nd horror program, The Colin & Ishmael Players brought us a Tuesday Funk first with their dramatic reading of "Colin and Ishmael in the Dark."  You may need to turn the volume up a little, but as our Halloween gift to you,

Participants Reading #51

Meet Our Readers: Jac Jemc

Jac Jemc's first novel, My Only Wife, was released from Dzanc earlier this year. She is the poetry editor for decomP and a fiction web editor at Hobart. She blogs her rejections at jacjemc.com. Please come see Jac and the rest of our talented readers at 7:

Fiction Videos

Video: Cynthia (cina) Pelayo gives us the boot

At our October 2nd horror program, Cynthia (cina) Pelayo stopped by our microphone to chill us with another story from her collection Loteria, and it sounded a little like this... And if you liked that, you won't want to miss our next event, Tuesday Funk's Election

Participants Reading #51

Meet Our Readers: Mary Lorenz

A New Orleans native, Mary Lorenz relocated to Chicago five years ago for a job and a mad craving for Rainbow Cone. A copywriter by day, Mary Lorenz spends her free time writing and performing in and around Chicago - oftentimes for actual audiences. These days, you can find her performing

Participants Reading #51

Meet Our Readers: Mary Zemaitis

Mary Zemaitis won her second-grade writing contest for the groundbreaking story "The Stolen Princess." The piece documented a sea princess's struggle against underwater witches. It is considered Mary's definitive work because her teacher laminated it. Pretty much downhill from there. As an adult,

Participants Reading #51

Meet Our Readers: Kelly Swails

Kelly Swails is a writer who pays the bills by editing an online scientific journal. Her short fiction has appeared in several anthologies including "Predator and Prey 2" and "Boondocks Fantasy." She and her husband are in the process of moving to Chicago. When she'

Fiction Videos

Video: Cynthia (cina) Pelayo spoils a magician's tricks

At our October 2nd horror program, Cynthia (cina) Pelayo stopped by our microphone to chill us with a story from her collection Loteria, and it sounded a little like this... And if you liked that, you won't want to miss our next event, Tuesday Funk's Election

Participants Reading #51

Meet Our Readers: B. E. Pinkham

B. E. Pinkham has held various paying jobs in commercial photography, interior design and customer service management but considers her true career to be as non-market skill specialist in the disciplines of creative writing, visual art and community building. Originally from Long Island, she moved to the Midwest and

Readings Hopleaf

Tuesday Funk #51, "Election Night Edition": November 6, 2012

No matter what else you do on Election Night, remember to vote with your feet and come on down to Hopleaf for the 51st edition of Tuesday Funk!  We'll be bringing you a ballot box stuffed with literary excellence from the likes of Jac Jemc, Mary Lorenz, B.