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.

Molia Dumbleton's fiction and poetry have been featured in The Kenyon Review Online, New England Review, Great Jones Street, Witness, Hobart, and others. She has been awarded the Seán Ó Faoláin Story Prize and the Dromineer Literary Festival Flash Fiction Award (both in Ireland), and has been named a Peter Taylor Fellow at The Kenyon Review and a Finalist for the Glimmer Train Very Short Fiction Award. A full list of publications and links to her work can be found at www.moliadumbleton.com.

Please join Molia 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.

Leonard Zawadski is a poet, and he lives in Rogers Park, IL. He works as a receiving clerk for an independent bookstore in the North Shore of Chicago. Poetry of his appears or is forth-coming in The Literary Nest, Into the Void Magazine, Quail Bell Magazine, The Trumpeter: Journal of Ecosophy, Burningword Literary Journal, Five:2:One Magazine, and several other publications. When he isn't writing or reading, Leonard uses his free time to practice Zen meditation, to contemplate which tea to choose from the cupboard, or to improve his general fitness. His recently completed chapbook, Lately Fallen, is in search of publication.

Please join Leonard 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.

Rising from the depths of winter, an eclectic live lit series emerges to warm your spirits: It's Tuesday Funk! We'll be back in the upstairs bar at Hopleaf on Tuesday, Feb. 7 with readings by Deborah Siegel, Leonard Zawadski, Jenn Sodini, Molia Dumbleton, and Keidra Chaney.

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 late after 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 was cold outside for the January 3, 2017 edition of Tuesday Funk, so we cuddled Andrew Huff's topical haiku close for warmth.

2017
is five syllables better
than 2016.

I vow that this year
fewer haiku will include
T. R. U. M. P.

Cold makes it winter
but it never feels right with
no snow on the ground.

Who is the dentist
who sold America on
teeth whiter than bone?

The stars dim slightly.
Millions of voices cried out,
"I love you." She knew.