For the past thirty-five years Joe Weintraub has been publishing a variety of fiction, essays, poetry, and translations in all sorts of literary reviews and periodicals, from The Massachusetts Review to the Chicago Reader, from Gastronomica to Modern Philology. Many of his pieces have been anthologized, and he is a recipient of Illinois Arts Council Awards for fiction and creative nonfiction.

He's been an Around-the-Coyote poet, a StoneSong poet, and has had one-act plays produced by the Theatre-Studio in New York City, Theatre One in Middleboro, Massachusetts. and the Summer Place Theatre in Naperville, Illinois. He's also been a featured author at the Twilight Tales reading series, at "March Madness, Murder & Mayhem" for the Uptown Writers Space, as well as with the TallGrass Writers Guild at the Bourgeois Pig, and he's as pleased as punch to be returning to read for Tuesday Funk at Hopleaf, where Belgian beer is available on tap.

Join Tuesday Funk on March 6 at 7:30 p.m. at Hopleaf's upstairs bar to hear Joe and the rest of our remarkable lineup read!

Way back at our December reading, speculative fiction writer extraordinaire Jody Lynn Nye joined us at the mike to read her short story "Howl!" (from the Esther Friesner anthology Strip Mauled), and it went a little 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 Hallie Palladino!

Find balance at our 43rd prime edition of Tuesday Funk, where we'll feature readings from John Everson, Robyn Pennacchia, Maggie Kast, Joe Weintraub, and our former Funk host Hallie Gordon Palladino! You'll also get a new Poem By Bill, not to mention your pick of dozens of varieties of cold beer at the bar.

The evening gets underway Tuesday, March 6, 2012, 7:30 pm, in the upstairs lounge at Hopleaf, 5148 N. Clark St., Chicago. Arrive early for a seat, and grab a beer from Johnny 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 one of our readings. See you there!

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.

Happy Monday, Funk buddies! Can you spot one of our elusive co-hosts, approximately nine years younger, in this recently unearthed 2004 segment from the Trio network television series Parking Lot? We'll give you one small hint: not in costume!

But whether or not you can, you can find both our co-hosts plus a bulging roster of great readers tomorrow night, Tuesday, February 7, 2012, at 7:30 pm in the upstairs lounge at Hopleaf, when we'll bring you great readings from Julia Borcherts, Lauryn Allison Lewis, Margie Skelly, Dustin Monk, and Lillian Huang Cummins.

Don't get stuck in the parking lot! Be there early to be sure of a seat.

Yearning for a fix of that good funny shit this weekend, Funkers? You know, a taste to tide you over until our amazing 42nd episode next Tuesday? You couldn't do any better than to check out Ian Belknap tomorrow night in his solo show Uncle Dad Is Ripshit, You Guys at the Prop Theatre.

You know Ian as the puppetmaster behind Write Club, the live pugilistic prose phenomenon that is (no joke) sweeping the globe. He's also half of the irby + ian tag-team blogging duo, and a Tuesday Funk alum besides. Tomorrow night's show will feature the best of his comedy writings from the past year. It's only $12 in advance, $15 (or pay what you can) at the door.

Do it up.

At our recent January 3rd reading, co-host William Shunn ushered us into a rather unusual comedy club to enjoy a little "Stand Up"...

And if you enjoyed that, please join us for our next event on Tuesday, February 7, 2012, when we'll bring you great readings from Julia Borcherts, Lauryn Allison Lewis, Margie Skelly, Dustin Monk, and Lillian Huang Cummins.

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.