April debriefing

The gift that keeps on giving - click to view - mousewheel to zoom

We were bowled over last night at Hopleaf by the great performances at Tuesday Funk, the reading series whose eclecticism knows no bounds. Personal essays, poetry, erotic science fiction, exotic science fiction, liquor labels (seriously!)—our delighted audience never knew what would strike next.

The evening kicked off with Mare Swallow's funny and poignant tale of, you know, the kind of stuff that happens when you're college. Charlotte Hart brought us a strong slate of poems, including several she created and illustrated for the labels of organic spirits from Koval Distillery. And J.H. Palmer related the hilarious and affecting story of the hazy weekend in Amsterdam that pointed the way back home to Chicago.

After a halftime break for beer and a Poem by Bill, Mary Anne Mohanraj brought us a tale (or was it a tail?) of furrie empowerment and eroticism on a distant planet. And Richard Chwedyk wrapped things up for us with a charming poem (see below) and a chilling story from his "Saur" series.

But if you weren't there, don't think you rolled a gutter ball! We'll be posting video from the evening's performances over the coming days and weeks so you can catch up on everything you missed. And of course Tuesday Funk will be back on May 1st with our guests Chris Mendius, B.C. Bell, Susanna Lang, Julie Rosenthal, and Tom Underberg. Be sure to join us!