This past Tuesday night, science fiction writer Dustin Monk dropped by our microphone to share his whimsical, Wallace Stevens–inspired excursion through our unknowable technological future, "Anecdote of the Singularity." It sounded a little bit like this...
And if you enjoyed that, then by no means should you miss our next event, Tuesday, March 6, 2012, which features readings from John Everson, Robyn Pennacchia, Maggie Kast, Joe Weintraub, and former Funk host Hallie Palladino. Be there!
Everyone's talking about Tuesday Funk—at least everyone who was there at Hopleaf last night to see our terrific 42nd episode. We do not exaggerate when we say the rapt audience were crammed in shoulder to shoulder to see our accomplished readers. Even Johnny the Bartender commented on the huge, thirsty crowd—and on what a contrast it was from our February 2011 reading, with its blizzard raging outside and its grand total of ten attendees. What a difference a year makes.
The program kicked off with Dustin Monk, who offered us a personalized guided tour of the world of the Singularity. Lillian Huang Cummins followed that up with two short excursions through lives we were all too painfully able to relate to. And Julia Borcherts delighted the crowd with her tale of a Miami meeting between a pregnant punk and the King of Reggae.
After a halftime break for beer and a Poem by Bill too ephemeral to have been captured by our primitive recording equipment, Lauryn Allison Lewis related a shocking tale of attempted sororicide—in the womb. And Margie Skelly brought us chugging back into the station with a series of poems about planes, trains, and destinations.
But if you weren't there, don't beat yourself up! We'll be posting video from the evening's performances over the coming days and weeks so you can catch up on (almost) everything you missed. And of course Tuesday Funk will be back March 6th with our guests John Everson, Robyn Pennacchia, Maggie Kast, Joe Weintraub, and former Tuesday Funk host Hallie Palladino! Be sure to join us so you too can be one of the ones talking about it.
A whole lot more video from last night's event is coming soon, so stay tuned!
We know our audience, and we know that nothing can hold you back from great writing or from great beer. Tuesday Funk has both on tap for you tonight in our 42nd big episode, so bring a friend and bust on in. No bolt-cutters necessary.
Our insanely gifted lineup tonight includes Julia Borcherts, Lauryn Allison Lewis, Margie Skelly, Dustin Monk, and Lillian Huang Cummins, not to mention one of our patented Poems By Bill. So "like" us today on Facebook, arrive early, grab one of dozens of varieties of beer from the bar, and get set for a evening of no-holds-barred entertainment.
Hopleaf Bar is at 5148 N. Clark St. in Chicago. The reading begins at 7:30 pm in the upstairs lounge. The lounge opens at 7:00 pm. Arrive early if you want a seat.
As always, the upstairs lounge at Hopleaf is cash-only and 21 and over. Remember also that no food can be brought in from the restaurant.
Lillian Huang Cummins is a psychologist, writer, and mom but never all three at the same time and not necessarily in that order. You probably haven't seen anything she has published unless you read the American Journal of Orthopsychiatry or other similar magazines. She was a finalist for the Fall 2011 Orlando Prize in Flash Fiction.
Margie Skelly lives in Chicago with her husband, a 22-year-old daughter, two cats and a dog, several fish, and too much seemingly insurmountable clutter.
Her awards for poetry include first place from the Jo-Anne Hirshfield Poetry Memorial Awards, second place from the Niles Public Library Poetry Contest, third place from Tall Grass Writers' Guild/Outrider Press in the anthology Falling in Love Again, and first and second places in the 1990 Poets and Patrons Contest. Her short story awards include second place in the National Organization for Women Fiction Contest in 2000.
In 2010, she was awarded a scholarship to the Rope Walk Writers Conference in New Harmony, Indiana. She was twice a scholarship recipient in Writing and Singing from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation for One State: Together in the Arts Conference, co-convened by the Illinois Arts Council and the Illinois Arts Alliance.
Her poetry has been published in Cram 2011, several Tall Grass Writers Guild anthologies put out by Outrider Press, Korone, Rambunctious Review, and Black Maria (where her short story "Bus Fare" was nominated for an Illinois Arts Council Award) while her fiction has been published in Primavera and her creative non-fiction in The Village Rambler.
Other distinctions include Finalist for the Gwendolyn Brooks Poetry Contest through the Guild at the Chopin Theater, Semi-finalist for the 2011 Word Works Washington Prize for a book-length collection of poetry, Contest Judge for the 33rd Evanston only high school contestants for the Jo-Anne Hirshfield Memorial Poetry Awards. Her work, "My Father Is Waiting for Me," was taught in an Advanced Placement English class at Buffalo Grove High School.
Her love of singing with the North Shore Choral Society of Evanston, Illinois, in particular Mozart's Requiem, was part of her inspiration for writing the piece in The Village Rambler titled "Listening to Mozart."
She has recently taught poetry writing at the Harold Washington Library in Chicago and poetry and fiction writing at the Eisenhower Library in Harwood Heights, Illinois, where she will once again teach fiction writing (with a new twist!) in April 2012. Forthcoming is publication of a poetry chapbook in early 2012 by Puddin'head Press of Chicago.
Dustin Monk
is a graduate of Clarion Writers' Workshop. His work is forthcoming from or has
appeared in Bull Spec, Shimmer, Digital Science Fiction, and Prime
Mincer Literary Journal, among others.
On his blog, spiralzine.blogspot.com, he began documenting the adventures of the club-hopping, gin-guzzling orb-weaver that had made his home outside his kitchen window but they had a falling-out, the details of which Dustin does not want to get into though if bought a sour ale may be obliged to divulge one or two juicy bits. Follow him on twitter at @dustinjmonk.
Join us Tuesday, February 7, at 7:30 p.m. at Hopleaf's upstairs bar to hear Dustin read!
Lauryn
Allison Lewis writes fiction, essays, interviews, book and bakery reviews, and
everything in between. She is a managing editor at Curbside Splendor Press,
assistant editor at Barrelhouse Magazine, and co-editor of Literary Chicago.
Her novella, Solo Down, will be
published this spring by The Chicago Center for Literature and Photography, and
her debut novel, The Beauties, will
be released later this year by Silverthought Press.
Join us Tuesday, February 7, at 7:30 p.m. at Hopleaf's upstairs bar to hear Lauryn read!
Julia Borcherts is a co-founder of Reading Under the
Influence and The Chicago Way lit series, a fiction writing instructor at
Columbia College Chicago, a theater columnist for RedEye and a frequent contributor to Time Out Chicago and the Windy City Times.
She has been a featured reader at Victory Garden's Fresh Squeezed series, 2nd Story, the Windy City Story Slam, This Much is True, Two with Water RX, the Revolutions reading series, Two Cookie Minimum, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Women & Children First bookstore, the Criminal Class Press anti-gala and many other events and venues.
Join us Tuesday, February 7 at 7:30 p.m. at Hopleaf's upstairs bar to hear Julia read!
You may know 42 as the answer to the ultimate question of the meaning of life, the universe, and everything. But for Tuesday Funk it means the ultimate lineup of Julia Borcherts, Lauryn Allison Lewis, Margie Skelly, Dustin Monk, and Lillian Huang Cummins for our amazing 42nd episode. And if you hitch a ride on our literary starship, you'll have your pick of dozens of varieties of cold beer in our warm, cozy control room as we bring you an unparalleled evening of stellar entertainment.
The voyage gets underway Tuesday, February 7, 2012, 7:30 pm, in the upstairs lounge at Hopleaf, 5148 N. Clark St., Chicago. Arrive early, claim a berth on the upstairs deck, and grab a beer from John at the cash-only bar. We start seating at 7:00 pm and no earlier. Admission is always free, but you must be 21 or older. And come early or stay afterward for some great Belgian-style food downstairs.
Please bring plenty of friends, and become a fan of Tuesday Funk on Facebook so you never miss an invitation to our readings. Do you know where your towel is?
