Kalisha Buckhanon's fourth novel SPEAKING OF SUMMER arrives July 30 from Counterpoint Press. The novel has been named a "Best Of" for Essence, O Magazine, Ms. Magazine, TIME, Buzzfeed, LitHub, USA Today and more. Her other novels have won a National Book Foundation "Literature for Justice" Program selection, American Library Association ALEX Award, Audie Award in Literary Fiction, Friends of American Writers Award and Illinois Arts Council Fellowship. Places her short works appear include Oxford American, Fiction International, Michigan Quarterly Review and REVISE THE PSALM, a celebration of Gwendolyn Brooks from Curbside Splendor. She herself appears on BET, Investigation Discovery and TV One channels as a true crime case commentator. She has English B.A. and M.A. degrees from University of Chicago and an M.F.A. from the New School in New York City. She was born in Kankakee, Illinois.

Please join Kalisha and our other amazing readers on Tuesday, July 2, 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.

Cameron McGill is a writer, educator, musician, and the poetry editor of Blood Orange Review. His poems have appeared or are forthcoming in The American Poetry Review, Beloit Poetry Journal, Mid-American Review, and elsewhere. His chapbook, Meridians, is forthcoming this fall from Willow Springs Books. He holds an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from the University of Idaho and teaches in the English Department at Washington State University, where he is co-director of the Visiting Writers Series.

Please join Cameron and our other amazing readers on Tuesday, July 2, 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.

Kenji Kuramitsu (he/him/his) is a writer, hospital chaplain and social worker living in Chicago. Kenji holds graduate degrees from the University of Chicago (MSW) and McCormick Theological Seminary (M.Div), where he serves as an Adjunct Professor in Ministry. Kenji's writing has appeared in Sojourners, Slant'd and Inheritance Magazines, and his creative nonfiction was nominated for a 2019 Pushcart Prize by the Asian American Writers' Workshop. Kenji is the author of "A Booklet of Uncommon Prayer: Collects for the #BlackLivesMatter Movement and Beyond." Find him online @afreshmind - or nurturing a green thumb at his church's food garden in Hyde Park.

Please join Kenji and our other amazing readers on Tuesday, July 2, 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.

Sahar Mustafah is the author of Code of the West, an award-winning short story collection. Her first novel, The Beauty of Your Face, is forthcoming from W.W. Norton next year. She's taught wonderful and misunderstood teenagers for over twenty years.

Please join Sahar and our other amazing readers on Tuesday, July 2, 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.

Cohost Andrew Huff read a quartet of his trademark topical haiku at our show on June 4, 2019.

Hair always looks worst
the week before a haircut --
and best the day of.

If Trump's trade tariffs
don't destroy Midwest farmers,
maybe the floods will.

New abortion laws
put women's lives in danger.
How is that pro-life?

If you are threatened
by the concept of gay pride,
just how straight are you?

The sparks will fly both inside and out for the 129th edition of Tuesday Funk! Chicago's favorite eclectic monthly reading series will be back in the upstairs lounge at Hopleaf on Tuesday, July 2. Join us for readings by Sahar Mustafah, Kenji Kuramitsu, Kalisha Buckhanon, Norman Doucet and Cameron McGill.

Admission to Tuesday Funk is free, but you must be 21 to attend. Doors open at 7pm sharp (tables fill up fast, so get there on time!) and the show will start at 7:30pm. Please RSVP, and please like and follow us on Facebook so you get our announcements right in your stream.

Some nights just feel right. June 4 was one of those nights, when everything just came together and your favorite eclectic monthly reading series simply hummed.

James Finn Garner set the mood with a snappy bit of clown-detective noir. Next, Mare Swallow told a story about wanting to be the bad girl for once, and its repercussions. Then Erin Watson read a collection of poems, including a few about baseball's dad.

Intermission arrived and we refilled our drinks, and cohost Andrew Huff read some of his topical haiku. Bill Savage roused the crowd with an impassioned recounting of how order came to Chicago's street names. And finally, Elizabeth Gomez shared an essay about how important self identity is, especially as it's being formed.

Yep, you missed a good one. But don't worry, Tuesday Funk will be back on Tuesday, July 2, with readings by Sahar Mustafah, Kenji Kuramitsu, Kalisha Buckhanon, Norman Doucet and Cameron McGill! Hope to see you there.

Come celebrate maybe-finally-could-it-actually-be-summer with us and our glorious readers: Mare Swallow, Bill Savage, Elizabeth Gomez, Erin Watson, and James Finn Garner!

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!

Elizabeth Gomez is a Chicago based comedian, writer, and storyteller. She established the city's first all female roller derby league, The Windy City Rollers, in 2004. She is the founding writer of a writing collective called Drinkers with Writing Problems and editor at Heauxs Magazine (a magazine where smart people talk about dumb things), spends her days working for an Alderman on Chicago's city council, and spends her nights trying to learn all the dance moves from Magic Mike. You can learn more about her ridiculousness at thatelizabethgomez.com.

Please join Elizabeth and our other amazing readers on Tuesday, June 4, 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.

Mare Swallow is a full-time public speaking and communications coach, occasional writer, and sometimes ukulele player. She shares her stories at events like this one - Tuesday Funk! Find her at mariannaswallow.com.

Please join Mare and our other amazing readers on Tuesday, June 4, 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.