Katey Schultz is the author of Flashes of War, which the Daily Beast praised as an "ambitious and fearless" collection, and Still Come Home, the winner of the first ever Ciofalo Award. Honors for her work include the Linda Flowers Literary Award, IndieFab Book of the Year from Foreword Reviews, a Gold Medal from the Military Writers Society of America, four Pushcart nominations, and writing fellowships in eight states. Katey has taught all over the country--at Interlochen College of Creative Arts, Fishtrap, 49 Alaska Writing Center, among many others. She has also presented at over 70 readings and lectures, and started her own writing mentorship program, Maximum Impact, a transformative mentoring service for creative writers that has been recognized by both CNBC and the What Works Network. She lives in Celo, North Carolina with her husband and son. Find her at www.kateyschultz.com.

Please join Katey and our other amazing readers on Tuesday, December 3, 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.

Ruth Kaufman is the author of four medieval romances, two medieval novellas and two humorous contemporary novels. Her Wars of the Roses Brides trilogy (At His Command, Follow Your Heart, and The Bride Tournament) reached #1 historical romance on Amazon in the US, Canada and Australia. Other accolades include 2016 Booksellers' Best Award double winner (Best Historical and Best First Book). Ruth is also an on-camera and voiceover actor with a J.D. and a Master's in Radio/TV. Credits include independent features, short films, web series, national TV commercials and thousands of voiceovers. Ask what she did on America's Funniest People and the live judges round of America's Got Talent, S8. She presents workshops for authors and actors is a storyteller, and sings in a symphony chorus. Learn more at ruthkaufman.com and ruthtalks.com.

Please join Ruth and our other amazing readers on Tuesday, December 3, 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.

Anne-Marie Oomen is co-author of Lake Michigan Mermaid with Linda Nemec Foster (Michigan Notable Book for 2019), but she is not a mermaid--she wrote the troubled girl poems in the book--no type-casting there. She also wrote Love, Sex and 4-H (Next Generation Indie Award for Memoir), which has only about one inch of sex in the whole book--sorry to disappoint. Also, Uncoded Woman (poetry), in which she likes to pretend she's uncoded--though she's pretty sure an uncoded woman is really a fiction. She edited ELEMENTAL: A Collection of Michigan Nonfiction, also a Michigan Notable Book. It's not about the elements. She and her husband, David Early, built their home in the woods near Empire, Michigan, and emerge when their cider stores are low. Find her at www.anne-marieoomen.com.

Please join Anne-Marie and our other amazing readers on Tuesday, December 3, 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.

Tuesday Funk cohost Andrew Huff shared three haiku at the 133rd edition of Tuesday Funk on Nov. 5.

Snow on Halloween
hides pageantry and horror
under heavy coats.

Snow melts on pavement
leaving leaf-lined paths under
bowed tree branches.

Twitter just announced
it's banning -- no, not Nazis.
Political ads.

The holiday season is upon us, and what better way to celebrate than with the last Tuesday Funk of 2019! Join Chicago's favorite eclectic monthly reading series on Tuesday, Dec. 3, when we'll feature Ruth Kaufman, Katey Schulz, Anne-Marie Oomen, Norman Doucet and Rachel Cromidas!

We'll be in the upstairs lounge at Hopleaf in Andersonville. As always, admission to Tuesday Funk is free, but you must be 21 to attend. Doors open at 7pm sharp (tables tend to fill up fast, so don't dawdle!) and the show will start at 7:30pm. Please RSVP on Facebook -- and while you're at it, please like and follow us so you get our announcements right in your stream.

It was a prematurely cold night in what has turned into a series of cold nights, but the audience for the 133rd edition of Tuesday Funk was warm and welcoming in the upstairs lounge at Hopleaf on November 5, and our readers were ready to soak it up. Brooklyn-based Marco Rafalà got the show started with an excerpt from his new novel, How Fires End, about a fateful accident in a Sicilian town soon after the end of World War II. Next, Kat Jercich read an essay about attempting to hide her queerness under hundreds of photos of Daniel Radcliffe on her bedroom walls. Then Leland Cheuk shared an excerpt from his new novel, No Good Very Bad Asian before we took a break to refresh our drinks.

After intermission, cohost Andrew Huff read a couple of his patented topical haiku, then Karen Clanton told a story about overcoming racial harassment in a new town as a child. And lastly, Kevin Coval read a selection of poems about Wicker Park from his new collection, Everything Must Go: The Life & Death of an American Neighborhood.

If you missed it, don't feel bad. We'll have video up on our YouTube page soon. And you can catch the next episode of Chicago's favorite eclectic monthly reading series on Tuesday, Dec. 3, when we'll have readings by Ruth Kaufman, Katey Schulz, Anne-Marie Oomen, Norman Doucet and Darshita Jain. Hope to see you there!

Kick fall into high gear with Tuesday Funk - TONIGHT! We'll be featuring Karen Clanton, Kevin Coval, Marco Rafalà, Kat Jercich, and Leland Cheuk! Plus your perennial cohosts, 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!

Karen Clanton is an attorney whose law degree did not stifle the English major lurking within. She has forged a career as a writer in the legal profession, where she has led complex editorial projects in securities law, women's history and diversity. Karen currently works in a large law firm in the area of Diversity & Inclusion. She is a single mom living on the South Side of Chicago chronicling her adventures through stories told on her back porch (or at the kitchen table when it's cold outside) that end up being heard on stages across the city.

Please join Karen and our other amazing readers on Tuesday, November 5, 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.

Kat Jercich is a writer and editor living in Chicago. Her writing has appeared on Rewire.News, Tenderly Magazine, Bitch, Bust, RedEye, xoJane, and the Sacramento News and Review.

Please join Kat and our other amazing readers on Tuesday, November 5, 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.

Kevin Coval is an award-winning poet & author of Everything Must Go: The Life & Death of an American Neighborhood, A People's History of Chicago & over ten other full-length collections, anthologies & chapbooks. He is the founding editor of The BreakBeat Poets imprint on Haymarket Books, & Artistic Director of the MacArthur Award-winning cultural organization, Young Chicago Authors, & founder of Louder Than a Bomb: The Chicago Youth Poetry Festival, the world's largest youth poetry festival, now in more than 19 cities across North America. He's got a lot of hustles. He's shared the stage with The Migos & Nelson Mandela, has published in Poetry Magazine, The Chicago Tribune & CNN.com & co-hosts the podcast, The Cornerstore, on WGN Radio, cuz he loves to listen to people tell stories. He can be found on the internets @kevincoval.

Please join Kevin and our other amazing readers on Tuesday, November 5, 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.