Get back in the swing of things post-Labor Day with your favorite eclectic reading series! Tuesday Funk is back Sept. 5! Join us in the upstairs lounge of Hopleaf in Andersonville as we welcome Mary Winn Heider, Michael Fischer, Angel Simmons, Evan Stoner and Lily Be.

As always, doors open at 7 pm (no earlier, but arrive as close to 7 as possible or risk not getting a table) and the show starts at 7:30 pm. Admission is free, but you must be 21 or older. Please RSVP on Facebook -- and while you're there, like our page so you get our announcements right in your stream.

After taking a break for the Fourth of July holiday, coming back to the upstairs bar in Hopleaf for the 107th edition of Tuesday Funk was a refreshing pleasure.

Jonathan Winston Jones kicked things off with a second-person narrative that interwove memories with present-day feelings and events. Then Tiffany Gholar read a passage from her book A Bitter Pill to Swallow. Alicia Swiz brought us to the intermission with a story of coming to terms with a breakup, only to have him pop back up right as she was over him.

Everyone refreshed their drinks, then settled in to hear Edward Moses tell the story of how he fell in love with rap -- and then gave us a sample of his own lyrical style. Hannah Gamble closed out the evening with a selection of poems, including a couple that referenced a recently departed friend.

So there you go -- if you weren't there, you missed a good one. But fret not! Video will be up on our YouTube page soon. And we'll be back at Hopleaf on Tuesday, Sept. 5 with readings by Mary Winn Heider, Michael Fischer, Angel Simmons, Evan Stoner and Lily Be. See you there!

Have you missed us as much as we've missed you? Come tell us about it TONIGHT at Tuesday Funk #107. We've got an extra awesome lineup, with Alicia Swiz, Jonathan Jones, Edward Moses, Hannah Gamble, and Tiffany Gholar.

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. No food can be brought in from the restaurant. See you there!

Jonathan Winston Jones has struggled more to come out as a writer than he did when coming out as gay. Whenever he hits his stride with his writing, he hears the voice of his deceased grandfather who raised him saying, "Writing usually doesn't pay the bills." Jones works as senior analyst in the Federal government and has gained expertise in the labyrinthine matter that is the U.S. health care system. His primary focus is on Medicaid, the program for the poor. Jones holds two master's degrees, one in human rights from University of Manchester and a second in public policy from University of Chicago. He's working, albeit slowly, through the MFA at Northwestern. He has also moonlighted as a journalist focused on LGBT issues, with articles appearing in The Advocate, CNN, and The Des Moines Register.

Please join Jonathan and our other amazing readers on Tuesday, August 1, 2017 in the upstairs bar at Hopleaf. Doors open at 7pm, and the show starts at 7:30. It's free, and 21-and-over. RSVP on Facebook.

In 2000, Edward Moses's diverse musical upbringing began to suddenly make a lot of sense, as the whirlwinds of albums his parents had at home merged with his sudden discovery of Hip-Hop and Slam Poetry, all in a single summer. 17 years later, he's shared stages with Rap luminaries like Aesop Rock and Gift of Gab, all while trying to float his sneaker habit by disguising himself as a mild-mannered IT specialist at a Chicago start-up. Hailed as one of those "your favorite Chicago indie rapper's favorite indie rapper"-sort of folks, but also likely to talk your ear off about anything from the woes and Sisyphean doldrums of finding rare House records, to tiering systems in Capcom fighting games (yes, seriously).

Please join Edward and our other amazing readers on Tuesday, August 1, 2017 in the upstairs bar at Hopleaf. Doors open at 7pm, and the show starts at 7:30. It's free, and 21-and-over. RSVP on Facebook.

Alicia Swiz is a professor, performer, and professional feminist. Drawing from her personal experience and her academic training, Alicia Swiz facilitates conversations about gender, sex and pop culture. She is the host of the monthly showcase, Feminist Happy Hour, and SlutTalk, a sex-positive storytelling series and Q&A. You can follow her on the Internet @aliciaswiz.

Please join Alicia and our other amazing readers on Tuesday, August 1, 2017 in the upstairs bar at Hopleaf. Doors open at 7pm, and the show starts at 7:30. It's free, and 21-and-over. RSVP on Facebook.

Tiffany Gholar is a lifelong Chicago resident. She is the author of three art books: Post-Consumerism, Imperfect Things, and The Doll Project. A Bitter Pill to Swallow is her first novel, which started out as a short story she wrote during the summer of 1993 when she was about to begin her freshman year of high school. She studied art, creative writing and film at the University of Chicago, where adapting her story into a screenplay was her thesis project. In addition to taking classes in an MFA program in fiction writing at Columbia College, she also studied interior design at Harrington College of Design, and has a Masters Degree in painting from Governors State University. She is an artist, writer, interior designer, and Jeopardy! champion.

Please join Tiffany and our other amazing readers on Tuesday, August 1, 2017 in the upstairs bar at Hopleaf. Doors open at 7pm, and the show starts at 7:30. It's free, and 21-and-over. RSVP on Facebook.

Hannah Gamble is a poet, essayist, editor, performer,and educator. Her first book, Your Invitation to a Modest Breakfast, won the National Poetry Series in 2011. In 2014 she received a Ruth Lilly/Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg fellowship from The Poetry Foundation. You can find her writing on the Poetry Foundation website, and in magazines such as The Believer, jubilat, Fanzine, and the American Poetry Review. On the 23rd of this month, she will be the host of "Art Show Tonight," a monthly art and music late-night show at The Burlington in Logan Square.

Please join Hannah and our other amazing readers on Tuesday, August 1, 2017 in the upstairs bar at Hopleaf. Doors open at 7pm, and the show starts at 7:30. It's free, and 21-and-over. RSVP on Facebook.

After taking July off for a certain patriotic holiday, Tuesday Funk is back August 1! Join us in the upstairs lounge of Hopleaf in Andersonville as we welcome Jonathan Jones, Edward Moses, Tiffany Gholar, Hannah Gamble and Alicia Swiz to read at your favorite eclectic reading series!

As always, doors open at 7 pm (no earlier, but arrive as close to 7 as possible or risk not getting a table) and the show starts at 7:30 pm. Admission is free, but you must be 21 or older. Please RSVP on Facebook — and while you're there, like our page so you get our announcements right in your stream.

Sponsored by the Chicago Review of Books.

At the 106th edition of Tuesday Funk on June 6, covfefe cohost Andrew Huff read a handful of his patented topical haiku.

Pea tendrils each out
as warmer breezes arrive.
Gardens awaken.

"Pollen hurts my eyes"
doesn't sound very cool, so
I call it "tree sex."

--

Racists lament the
Confederate monuments
removed in NOLA.

What other cultures
insist on venerating
a war's losing side?

--

It's their second date.
Chance for a third hinges on
this awkward moment.