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, 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.

Marc Fischer is the administrator of Public Collectors, an initiative he formed in 2007. Public Collectors’ work brings the periphery to the foreground. Its projects include the Library Excavations publication series and Hardcore Architecture—a blog and publication about the houses where people in punk bands lived (mostly while still living with their parents). Lately Public Collectors is obsessed with people that appear at protests dressed as the grim reaper. Fischer is also a member of the group Temporary Services and a partner in its publishing imprint Half Letter Press.

Please join Marc and our other amazing 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.

Meredith Nnoka is a Chicago-based poet, educator, and prison abolitionist. They have a BA from Smith College and an MA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, both in Africana studies. They teach poetry in carceral facilities and have received fellowships from Lambda Literary, Illinois Humanities, and the Prison + Neighborhood Arts/Education Project. Meredith’s writing explores the intersections of queer domestic violence and mass incarceration. Twice nominated for Best of the Net, their poems have appeared in Diode Poetry Journal, Four Way Review, and The Massachusetts Review. Their most recent chapbook, I Could Never Be Your Woman, won the 2022 Derricotte/Eady Prize from Cave Canem.

Please join Meredith and our other excellent 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.

Rachel Mennies is the author of three poetry collections: The Wolf, forthcoming from BOA Editions in 2027; The Naomi Letters (also BOA Editions); and The Glad Hand of God Points Backwards (from Texas Tech University Press). Her poems have appeared recently in American Poetry Review, The Kenyon Review, Poetry, and elsewhere. She lives in Chicago, where she works as a writer, editor, and adjunct professor. Learn more at rachelmennies.com.

Please join Rachel 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.

Kim Moldofsky is the Bold Belief Builder at Scrappy Affirmations, where she helps people find meaning, reflect and make art, and navigate transitions right up until the end of life. Known for creative gatherings, she fosters welcoming spaces that invite openness, self-discovery, and the sharing of wisdom. Kim created and curates Hot Flashes & Fierce Tales, a show that centers stories of women in midlife and beyond, and recently expanded her discussion series Let’s Eat Cookies and Talk About Death into a story night as well. She is a former blogger and the author of a children’s book about Amelia Earhart. Kim imagines writing a memoir detailing her life from 2019-2024 based on a series of collages she created during that time.

Please join Kim and our other amazing 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.

Chicago's favorite monthly reading series returns to the Hopleaf on April 1 — no foolin'! Join us for readings by Lily Be, Marc Fischer, Rachel Mennies, Kim Moldofsky, and Meredith Nnoka, 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!