Current events couldn't help but make their way into cohost Andrew Huff's topical haiku at the July 2, 2019 show.

Once liberators,
now a nation that constructs
concentration camps.

Proud Americans
forget the reason we fought:
freedom from tyranny.

Independence Day
fails to live up to its name
while we still detain.

Meanwhile...

Patriotism is
rooting for women's soccer
to conquer England.

We had a great crowd for the 129th edition of Tuesday Funk on July 2, and those in attendance got a serious treat -- emphasis on serious.

Norman Doucet got everything started with a funny story that wove a legendary boxing match with glimpses into the personalities of the three parental figures in his life. Next, Cameron McGill read poems that painted desolate landscapes populated by lovers, family members and memories. Then Sahar Mustafah shared an excerpt from her forthcoming novel, The Beauty of Your Face, giving us a look at the movements and motivations of a school shooter.

Cohost Andrew read a couple of rather angry haiku, and we took a break to refill drinks and decompress.

Cohost Eden brought us back from intermission with part of an essay about her experiences living for two weeks on a scientific research boat in the Gulf of Mexico. Then Kalisha Buckhanon read an excerpt from her new book Speaking of Summer, and finally Kenji Kuramitsu delivered an essay reflecting on Japanese resettlement in Chicago after the World War II internment camps and their relevance today.

Keep an eye on our YouTube page for video of the show, and put Tuesday, August 6 on your calendar now. We'll be featuring readings by Sara Ross Witt, H. Melt, Sophie Amado, Vojislav Pejovic and Jill Howe. You won't want to miss it!

I'll just say this: You do NOT want to miss this show. With readings by Kalisha Buckhanon, Kenji Kuramitsu, Cameron McGill, Norman Doucet, and Sahar Mustafah, plus your perennial 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. And check it out -- You can now order food from our bartender! See you there!

Norman Doucet was born in Charleston, South Carolina, and spent his formative years there, which is reflected in many of the mistakes he has made in his life. For instance, he likes to point out that he was both a right-wing Republican and an evangelical Christian...at the same time. Seeking adventure, and a change of scenery, he joined the Marine Corps after college and got both of those things, but most importantly, he gained an appreciation for the heights and depths of the human experience, which has shaped some of his world view. Norm fell in love with storytelling at a young age, listening to his late grandmother's tales filled with superstitions wrapped around heady gossip. He fell in love with writing during his English Novel class in undergrad because he was impressed by how long the authors could keep "talking and making shit up" and keep his interest.

He's won some awards, has gone to grad school and spends his days "talking and making shit up" for work.

Please join Norman and our other amazing readers on Tuesday, July 2, 2019 in the upstairs bar at Hopleaf. Doors open at 7pm, and the show starts at 7:30. It's free, and 21-and-over. Please RSVP on Facebook.

Kalisha Buckhanon's fourth novel SPEAKING OF SUMMER arrives July 30 from Counterpoint Press. The novel has been named a "Best Of" for Essence, O Magazine, Ms. Magazine, TIME, Buzzfeed, LitHub, USA Today and more. Her other novels have won a National Book Foundation "Literature for Justice" Program selection, American Library Association ALEX Award, Audie Award in Literary Fiction, Friends of American Writers Award and Illinois Arts Council Fellowship. Places her short works appear include Oxford American, Fiction International, Michigan Quarterly Review and REVISE THE PSALM, a celebration of Gwendolyn Brooks from Curbside Splendor. She herself appears on BET, Investigation Discovery and TV One channels as a true crime case commentator. She has English B.A. and M.A. degrees from University of Chicago and an M.F.A. from the New School in New York City. She was born in Kankakee, Illinois.

Please join Kalisha and our other amazing readers on Tuesday, July 2, 2019 in the upstairs bar at Hopleaf. Doors open at 7pm, and the show starts at 7:30. It's free, and 21-and-over. Please RSVP on Facebook.

Cameron McGill is a writer, educator, musician, and the poetry editor of Blood Orange Review. His poems have appeared or are forthcoming in The American Poetry Review, Beloit Poetry Journal, Mid-American Review, and elsewhere. His chapbook, Meridians, is forthcoming this fall from Willow Springs Books. He holds an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from the University of Idaho and teaches in the English Department at Washington State University, where he is co-director of the Visiting Writers Series.

Please join Cameron and our other amazing readers on Tuesday, July 2, 2019 in the upstairs bar at Hopleaf. Doors open at 7pm, and the show starts at 7:30. It's free, and 21-and-over. Please RSVP on Facebook.

Kenji Kuramitsu (he/him/his) is a writer, hospital chaplain and social worker living in Chicago. Kenji holds graduate degrees from the University of Chicago (MSW) and McCormick Theological Seminary (M.Div), where he serves as an Adjunct Professor in Ministry. Kenji's writing has appeared in Sojourners, Slant'd and Inheritance Magazines, and his creative nonfiction was nominated for a 2019 Pushcart Prize by the Asian American Writers' Workshop. Kenji is the author of "A Booklet of Uncommon Prayer: Collects for the #BlackLivesMatter Movement and Beyond." Find him online @afreshmind - or nurturing a green thumb at his church's food garden in Hyde Park.

Please join Kenji and our other amazing readers on Tuesday, July 2, 2019 in the upstairs bar at Hopleaf. Doors open at 7pm, and the show starts at 7:30. It's free, and 21-and-over. Please RSVP on Facebook.

Sahar Mustafah is the author of Code of the West, an award-winning short story collection. Her first novel, The Beauty of Your Face, is forthcoming from W.W. Norton next year. She's taught wonderful and misunderstood teenagers for over twenty years.

Please join Sahar and our other amazing readers on Tuesday, July 2, 2019 in the upstairs bar at Hopleaf. Doors open at 7pm, and the show starts at 7:30. It's free, and 21-and-over. Please RSVP on Facebook.

Cohost Andrew Huff read a quartet of his trademark topical haiku at our show on June 4, 2019.

Hair always looks worst
the week before a haircut --
and best the day of.

If Trump's trade tariffs
don't destroy Midwest farmers,
maybe the floods will.

New abortion laws
put women's lives in danger.
How is that pro-life?

If you are threatened
by the concept of gay pride,
just how straight are you?

The sparks will fly both inside and out for the 129th edition of Tuesday Funk! Chicago's favorite eclectic monthly reading series will be back in the upstairs lounge at Hopleaf on Tuesday, July 2. Join us for readings by Sahar Mustafah, Kenji Kuramitsu, Kalisha Buckhanon, Norman Doucet and Cameron McGill.

Admission to Tuesday Funk is free, but you must be 21 to attend. Doors open at 7pm sharp (tables fill up fast, so get there on time!) and the show will start at 7:30pm. Please RSVP, and please like and follow us on Facebook so you get our announcements right in your stream.