As the weather warms up, so does Chicago's favorite eclectic monthly reading series! Join us in the upstairs lounge at Hopleaf on June 3 for readings by Diana Babineau, Dayna Bateman, Mary Anne Mohanraj, Eden Robins, and James Stewart III. It'll be a little of everything &emdash; mysterious murders, flash fiction, sci-fi and more!

Admission to Tuesday Funk is always free, but you must be 21 to attend. Doors open at 7pm sharp (tables tend to fill up fast, so don't be late!) and the show will start at 7:30pm. Please RSVP on Facebook, and while you're there, like and follow us so you get our announcements in your news stream. You can also follow us on Bluesky, YouTube and Instagram — and subscribe to our very low-volume (like, once a month) email newsletter, too!

We had a wonderful turnout for Tuesday Funk on May 6. The upstairs lounge at Hopleaf was filled with folks ready for anything, and that's exactly what your favorite eclectic monthly reading series gave them!

J. Rohr got things started with a lightly fictionalized story of a wild wake and remembrance for a friend. Next, Bradley Morgan read an excerpt from his book U2's The Joshua Tree: Planting Roots in Mythic America, and then Kate Prior regaled us with a story of a budding high school relationship that led to a realization of what her larger personal beliefs are.

We took a break to refill our drinks, and Mike Puican shared a portion of his forthcoming memoir, as well as a few poems. And last but not least, Molly Sackler told a tale of friendship involving witches in Ibiza.

Tuesday Funk will be back on June 3 with readings by Diana Babineau, Dayna Bateman, Mary Anne Mohanraj, James Stewart III, and former cohost Eden Robins. It's going to be a lot of fun — hope to see you there!

Molly Sackler is a theatre brat. She grew up in a family that moved often for her father’s work as a playwright, director, and screenwriter. After college, she cut her teeth in NYC book publishing. At the Doubleday Crime Club, Molly learned how to write lurid flap copy and — through author photos — that English mystery writers tend to own cats, unconvincing wigs, and, apparently, no clean cardigans. A winding path then took her through academia, the documentary world, and intentional integration in Fair Housing. A sometime poet who still feels new to Chicago, Molly has twice been a finalist in the Gwendolyn Brooks Open Mic Award. The highlight was getting to meet Ms. Brooks the first year the contest was held. Molly works as a freelance writer and editor. She is writing a book about her childhood.

Please join Molly and our other excellent readers on Tuesday, May 6, 2025 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.

Bradley Morgan, a media arts professional in Chicago, is the author of U2's The Joshua Tree: Planting Roots in Mythic America. He manages partnerships on behalf of CHIRP Radio 107.1 FM and is the director of its music film festival. His forthcoming books are Frank Zappa's America (Louisiana State University Press, June 2025) and U2: Until the End of the World (Gemini Books, October 2025). He enjoys listening to records with his ginger cat Rusty.

Please join Bradley and our other great readers on Tuesday, May 6, 2025 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.

J. Rohr is a Chicago native with a taste for history and wandering the city at odd hours. He writes noir, horror, crime fiction, and scifi. His short fiction can be found in anthologies such as Sherlock Holmes: Further Adventures in the Realms of H.G. Wells Volume Two; Dragon Bike: Fantastical Stories of Bicycling, Feminism, & Dragons; Dead Letters: Episodes of Epistolary Horror; and Thicker Than Water. To deal with the more corrosive aspects of everyday life he makes music in the band Beerfinger (available on Spotify, Amazon, Apple Music, etc.). Currently a member of the Chicago Indie Critics, he writes movie reviews for Film Obsessive as well as articles about cinema.

Please join J. and our other awesome readers on Tuesday, May 6, 2025 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.

Kate Prior is a corporate trainer who teaches cybersecurity basics by day, works on her novel by night, and creates art on the weekends. Occasionally, she tells stories at Do Not Submit, Serving the Sentence, and Is This a Thing? If you like what you hear tonight, you can watch more of her stories on her YouTube channel, Prior Tales.

Please join Kate and our other fantastic readers on Tuesday, May 6, 2025 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.

Mike Puican’s debut book of poetry, Central Air (Northwestern Press), was published in 2020. He’s had poems in Poetry, Michigan Quarterly Review, and New England Review among many others and he won the Tia Chucha Press Chapbook Contest for 30 Seconds. He was a member of the Chicago Slam Team and is president emeritus of the Guild Literary Complex. He currently teaches creative writing to incarcerated individuals at the Federal Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago. He’s also a mentor in the PEN Prison Writing Mentorship Program.

Please join Mike and our other great readers on Tuesday, May 6, 2025 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.

photo by Diana Solis

Spring has sprung, and as the leaves return, so does Chicago's favorite monthly reading series. Join us at Hopleaf on Tuesday, May 6 for readings by Bradley Morgan, Kate Prior, Mike Puican, J. Rohr and Molly Sackler, as well as haiku by Andrew and a toast by Erin.

Admission to Tuesday Funk is always free, but you must be 21 to attend. Doors open at 7pm sharp (tables tend to fill up fast, so don't be late!) and the show will start at 7:30pm. Please RSVP on Facebook, and while you're there, like and follow us so you get our announcements in your news stream. You can also follow us on Bluesky, YouTube and Instagram — and subscribe to our very low-volume (like, once a month) email newsletter, too!

Thanks to everyone who joined us for Tuesday Funk on April 1 — y'all aren't fools! Our show ended up being one reader short, as Rachel Mennies was sick, but we had a great time anyway.

Marc Fischer got us started with a collection of emails disclosing gifts from various sources to past mayors and city officials. Cohost Andrew read a couple of seasonal haiku and introduced Kim Moldofsky, who shared a pair of stories about her elderly parents.

We took a break to refresh our drinks, then cohost Erin gave a toast before introducing Meredith Nnoka, who read a selection of poems about prison abolition. Last but not least, Lily Be told a story about her experiences as an unhoused person.

Tuesday Funk will be back on May 6, with readings by Bradley Morgan, Kate Prior, Mike Puican, J. Rohr and Molly Sackler. Hope to see you there!

Lily Be is a Chicago West Side born-and-raised, award-winning storyteller. She is the first Latinx winner of a Moth GrandSLAM championship, and creator and producer of Stoop Style Stories, formerly The Stoop. She is a huge advocate for the marginalized and a lot of her storytelling work is centered around helping people discover their voices and be heard.

Lily has taught at Second City and colleges and universities worldwide. Her calling to connect and serve has been a longstanding motivation for the work that she does and continues to do. Storytelling has the power to shape, transform, and save lives and Lily Be is living proof.

Please join Lily and our other fantastic readers on Tuesday, April 1, 2025 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.