Lori Barrett moved to Chicago ten years ago, and found a friend in Andrew and Gapers Block. She has also freelanced for the Wall Street Journal on hard-hitting topics like custom-stuffed pillows, dog-food delivery services, and luxury horse ranches, and as a result, played against Andrew and Gapers Block in Chicago's media softball league. She has an MFA from the low-residency fiction program at Chatham University. Her creative writing has appeared in New Horizons, a journal from The British Fantasy Society, Entropy and BrooklynQuarterly.com. She is an assistant fiction editor for the journal Pithead Chapel.

Please join Lori and our other amazing readers on Tuesday, March 7, 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.

Steve Bellinger was born and raised on the West Side of Chicago by a single mom who worked nights for a printing company. She would bring home books and magazines to encourage her kids to read. This is how Steve discovered Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein, and the other masters of classic science fiction. It didn't take long for him to get the itch to write. Over the years he's written everything from newspaper articles, comic strips and radio drama to short stories and fan fiction. Two of the original Trekkies, Steve and his wife Donna plan to renew their wedding vows with a full Star Trek-themed ceremony; he'll wear an admiral's dress uniform, and she will be decked out in a custom-made leather-and-lace Klingon wedding dress. Steve and Donna live in Lincoln Park with a cat to be named later.

Please join Steve and our other amazing readers on Tuesday, March 7, 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.

Naomi Buck Palagi was raised in the woods of central Kentucky, and lives in Northwest Indiana now after several years in Chicago. She's published a variety of experimental and more traditional poetry in journals such as Moria, Spoon River Review, Masque & Spectacle, Requited, and others. She has two chapbooks, silver roof tantrum from dancing girl press, and Darkness in the Tent from the Dusie Kollectiv. Her first book, Stone, is just out from BlazeVOX books.

Please join Naomi and our other amazing readers on Tuesday, March 7, 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.

Cohost Andrew Huff read a handful of haiku at February's Episode #102 of Tuesday Funk.

Lakeview at midnight:
a vomiting young woman
begs her friends to wait.

A cat in a crouch,
motionless but for its tail,
watches a laser.

Check out my tattoo!
Oh wait, it's under my sleeve.
I'll show you in spring.
(written by Kyle Thiessen)

A house divided
cannot stand. Especially
if it is on fire.

Let's march! March into the upstairs bar at Hopleaf for Tuesday Funk, that is. We'll be back on Tuesday, March 7 for Episode #103, featuring readings by Lori Barrett, Steve Bellinger, Naomi Buck Palagi, Tori Szekeres and Ted McClelland.

Doors open at 7pm -- no earlier, please -- and the show starts at 7:30 sharp. So get there early to grab a seat, but not too early. As always, admission is free, but you must be 21 or older. And come early or stay afterward for dinner or more drinks downstairs.

Please RSVP on Facebook, and bring a friend. And don't forget to become a fan so you never miss an invitation to one of our readings. Sponsored by the Chicago Review of Books.

It didn't feel terribly much like February outside, but that didn't stop us from all getting cozy in the upstairs bar at Hopleaf for episode #102 of Tuesday Funk!

Jenn Sodini led us off with a funny-sad story about unexpectedly encountering refugees in Germany and Connecticut, then Leonard Zawadski read poetry. Cohost Andrew Huff followed up with a few seasonal haiku, then Keidra Chaney shared her theory that Morris Day and the Time are the true heroes of Purple Rain.

We took a break and Sal refilled everyone's glasses, and cohost Eden Robins welcomed us back with a micro-essay about the need for everyone to show up and participate in society. Next, Molia Dumbleton read a selection of short stories and poems. Lastly, Deborah Siegel described her tribulations and revelations in child-rearing.

We'll be back on Tuesday, March 7 for Episode #103, featuring readings by Lori Barrett, Steve Bellinger, Naomi Buck Palagi, Tori Szekeres and Ted McClelland. Hope to see you there!

Don't miss it! We've got Deborah Siegel, Leonard Zawadski, Jenn Sodini, Molly Dumbleton, and Keidra Chaney... and of course, your faithful 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. No food can be brought in from the restaurant. See you there!

Jenn Sodini grew up in Pittsburgh, went to school in Amherst, and then moved to Chicago and never looked back. She passionately hosts and co-produces CHIRP Radio's The First Time, a live-music-and-storytelling series held quarterly at Martyrs', and Psychotic Break, Chicago's premiere mental-illness-themed variety show, which is on the first Wednesday of every month at Schubas. Feb 1st is Pyschotic Break's Carrie Fisher Tribute special. She has been featured on The Moth Radio Hour and tells stories all over town, sometimes formally. She's finally moved out of her Wicker Park loft, so let Jenn know if you're interested in purchasing a 7-foot-tall paper maché yeti.

Please join Jenn and our other amazing readers on Tuesday, February 7, 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.

Keidra Chaney is a writer, editor, blogger and digital strategist, though she's not sure what that actually means these days. She has been published in Chicago Sun-Times, Time Out Chicago, Bitch Media, Paste, and a bunch of publications that no longer exist. She is the co-founder and publisher of pop culture website The Learned Fangirl and she's also the bass player in a band called Sole Heiress though they haven't done anything in over a year.

Please join Keidra and our other amazing readers on Tuesday, February 7, 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.

Deborah Siegel is the author of two books and a pair of boy/girl twins, and the founder of the public voice consultancy, Girl Meets Voice Inc. She's also co-founder of SheWrites.com, Senior Facilitator with The OpEd Project, and creator of the Girl w/Pen blog. Currently a Visiting Scholar in Gender and Sexuality Studies at Northwestern University and a lover of all things lake, she's an ex-New Yorker who bailed on academia but never fully left. Her writing has appeared in venues including The Washington Post, The Guardian, CNN.com, The Forward, Kveller, Slate, The Huffington Post, The American Prospect, Ms., More, and Psychology Today. She has been featured on The Today Show, at TEDx, and in the New York Times. Deborah is currently obsessed with a multimedia experiment in thinking out loud, and in community, about gender and early childhood. Learn more about her writing, speaking, and coaching at www.deborahsiegelphd.com.

Please join Deborah and our other amazing readers on Tuesday, February 7, 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.