The 136th edition of Tuesday Funk on Feb. 4 was another jam-packed room full of attentive audience members listening to fantastic readers! We're always grateful to have such open and engaged crowds.

Lindsay Porter started us off with an abecedarius about music and memory. Next, Kelly Swails read an excerpt from her latest sci-fi novel, leaving us craving more. Then Jessi D shared an essay about finding out more about her birth parents and meeting her birth father for the first time.

After a quick intermission, cohost Andrew Huff recited a couple of his topical haiku, and Ananda Lima read a broad selection of her poems. Kendra Stevens closed the night out by regaling us with a story of an ill-advised road trip and the risky kindness of strangers.

If you missed us, we missed you! But fear not. Your favorite eclectic monthly reading series returns to the Hopleaf on Tuesday, March 3, with readings by Devorah Heitner, Tom Haley, James Gordon and Stuti Sharma. Hope to see you then!

Show your indomitable Chicago spirit by trudging out in the (choose one:) snow/below-zero temps/gray drizzle/slush to see some awesome live lit! We've got: Kelly Swails, Ananda Lima, Lindsay Porter, Jessi D, and Kendra Stevens. Andrew Huff and Eden Robins cohost as always.

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!

Lindsay Porter has told stories with Loose Chicks, Upright Citizens Brigade, Miss Spoken, Tellin' Tales, TenX, True Story and Story Sessions. She teaches storytelling in schools, hospitals, and jails. She recently started doing stand up comedy, and has performed with The Kates, Mother Cluckers, Chicago Women's Funny Fest, Waukegan Comedy Jam, and in line at Trader Joe's.

Please join Lindsay and our other amazing readers on Tuesday, February 4, 2020 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.

Jessi D hails from the suburbs of Phoenix, Arizona, which is just as bad as it sounds. She packed her car with her belongings and cat and made the drive to Chicago in the miserably humid summer of 2011 and has been dicking around in the Midwest ever since. She finds joy in volunteering for CHIRP Radio, which has included volunteer coordination, audio production, and being an on-air DJ who plays songs that remind her of feelings from high school. Her day job is with Metropolis Coffee and has a very vague title including operations, processes, and analysis, and her night job is DJing weddings for a female owned and operated company and telling drunk people that no, she will not play the Chicken Dance.

Please join Jessi and our other amazing readers on Tuesday, February 4, 2020 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.

Kendra Stevens is a Chicago-based live-lit performer, comic and rapper who has performed all over the city. She is the co-producer and host of Serving the Sentence, a live-lit show in which all the stories start with the same first sentence, 2nd Tuesdays at the Teal Room, and a member of She's Crafty, Chicago's All-Female Beastie Boys tribute.

Please join Kendra and our other amazing readers on Tuesday, February 4, 2020 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.

Kelly Swails is a writer, editor, and all-around geek. Her work has appeared in several anthologies as well as Shondaland.com. Currently, she's the Co-Director of the Writer's Symposium at Gen Con, a con-within-a-con for science fiction and fantasy writers. You can stalk her on twitter at @kellyswails or her website at, you guessed it, kellyswails.com.

Please join Kelly and our other amazing readers on Tuesday, February 4, 2020 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.

Ananda Lima's work has appeared in The American Poetry Review, Poets.org, The Kenyon Review Online, Colorado Review, Rattle, Jubilat, Hobart, The Common, and elsewhere. She has an MA in Linguistics from UCLA and an MFA in Creative Writing in Fiction from Rutgers University, Newark. She has served as the poetry judge for the AWP Kurt Brown Prize, as staff at the Sewanee Writers Conference and as a mentor in the New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) Immigrant Artist Program. She has taught at UCLA, Montclair State University and Rutgers University. Her chapbook, Translation (Paper Nautilus, 2019), won the 2018 Vella Chapbook Contest.

Please join Ananda and our other amazing readers on Tuesday, February 4, 2020 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.

We're getting into the heart of winter here, and Tuesday Funk would like to place "dibs" on your Feb. 4! Join Chicago's favorite eclectic monthly reading series in the upstairs lounge at Hopleaf in Andersonville. We'll have readings by Kelly Swails, Ananda Lima, Lindsay Porter, Jessi D and Kendra Stevens. Andrew Huff and Eden Robins cohost as always.

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 be late!) and the show will start at 7:30pm. Please RSVP on Facebook, and while you're there, go ahead like and follow us so you get our announcements in your news stream.

January shows are always fun at Tuesday Funk, because it's always packed with folks who are resolved not to let winter weather stop them from going out. It was standing room only in the upstairs lounge of Hopleaf on Jan. 7, and the crowd was treated to some excellent writing.

Maggie Queeney got us started with a sampling of poems, some from her chapbook settler. Next, Michael Palmer read a glossary of terms from his time in West Texas. Then Darshita Jain shared poems about recent events in the US and in India.

We took a break to refill drinks, and then cohost Andrew Huff read a couple of his topical haiku. Then Cameron McGill recited several poems from his forthcoming chapbook, Meridians. Last but not least, Dimitry Samarov shared excerpts from his recently published memoir Soviet Stamps.

Want to make sure winter doesn't beat you? Join us on Tuesday, Feb. 4 for another edition of Tuesday Funk! We'll feature readings by Kelly Swails, Ananda Lima, Lindsay Porter, Jessi D and Kendra Stevens. Hope to see you then!

Not since 2000 has it been so hard to get accustomed to writing a new year. Join us on January 7, 2020(!!) for the year's first excellent installment of Tuesday Funk! Featuring Maggie Queeney, Cameron McGill, Darshita Jain, Michael Palmer, and Dmitry Samarov! And, of course, your perennial co-hosts, 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!