Sara Ross Witt is the former co-host of Tuesday Funk and a graduate of The New School MFA in Creative Writing program. Her writing has appeared in Black Market Lit, Best of Ohio Short Stories, Arch City Chronicle, and Parent to Parent. Currently, she reviews books based on their covers with a bunch of badass literary chicks who call themselves Hard Cover Lovers.

This summer, Sara will be reading from her short story collection as part of the acclaimed Shakespeare in the Park in Columbus, Ohio on August 8 and 9.

Sara lives Chicago's Uptown neighborhood with her husband Andrew Witt - bassist for the hard rock doom pop fish metal band Sea Lords - their 2 ½ year old son and two cats.

Please join Sara and all our other lords of the sea on Tuesday, June 3, 2014, upstairs at Hopleaf at 7:30 pm. This 21-and-older event is free.

Memorial Day is right around the corner, and a week and a day after that is Tuesday Funk. The 70th edition of your favorite eclectic monthly reading series will feature Claire Zulkey, Patricia Skalka, Sara Ross Witt, Theodore Goeglein and Ted McLelland. As always, Eden Robins and Andrew Huff are your humble cohosts.

The reading gets underway on Tuesday, June 3, 2014, at 7:30 pm in the upstairs lounge at Hopleaf, 5148 N. Clark St., Chicago. Doors open at 7:00 pm sharp -- but not earlier, as much as we'd like to let you in. Arrive early for a table and grab a beer from Mark at the bar. Arrive even earlier or stay afterwards for a full meal downstairs. Admission is free, but you must be 21 or older.

RSVP on Facebook and bring a friend. And hey, become a fan of Tuesday Funk on Facebook so you never miss an invitation to one of our readings. See you in June!

Co-host Andrew Huff gave folks another taste of his topical haiku at the May 6 edition of Tuesday Funk.

April ends with rain.
May begins with flowers, if
they're not waterlogged.

Free Comic Book Day!
May the Fourth be with you!
Total geek weekend.

We will be right back
after these messages for
racist old men.

Hot Doug's is closing
but not until October.
Get encased meats now!

There ain't no party like a Tuesday Funk #69 party, and a Tuesday Funk #69 party don't stop... until about 9:15pm. We started the night off right with an excerpt from Gint Aras's novel Finding the Moon in Sugar, about an American chasing his Lithuanian mail-order bride across the ocean. We followed that up with Jeremy Owens' rousing tale of dog ownership, and rounded out the half with Melissa Wiley's melancholy essay about loneliness and lovers.

Mark then took care of all of our beery needs.

Co-host Andrew Huff nearly incited a coup with his haiku about Hot Doug's imminent demise. Dustin Monk picked up the pieces with a fantastical tale about magic tea and cultural friction, and then James Finn Garner followed with a natural segue into an excerpt of his upcoming clown noir novel, second in the series about Rex Koko: Private Clown.

You are sorry you missed it. Don't be sorry again! We'll be back on June 3rd with guest stars Claire Zulkey, Patricia Skalka, Sara Ross Witt, Theodore Goeglein, and Ted McLelland!

It's seis de mayo, everybody! What better way to celebrate this popular holiday than by attending the time-honored "Tuesday Funk," complete with authentic libations and traditional garb!

That's right, it's Tuesday Funk #69 - with special guests Melissa Wiley, James Finn Garner, Gint Aras, Dustin Monk, and Jeremy Owens! And of course, who could forget your hostesses with the mostesses - 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!

Dustin Monk is a graduate of Clarion Writers' Workshop. His fiction, interviews, and book reviews have appeared in Shimmer, Digital Science Fiction, Strange Horizons, and Bull Spec, among others. He blogs at www.dustinmonk.wordpress.com and you can follow him on twitter @dustinjmonk.

Please join Dustin and all our other brevity-loving readers on Tuesday, May 6, 2014, upstairs at Hopleaf at 7:30 pm. This 21-and-older event is free.

Jeremy Owens is the creator and producer of You're Being Ridiculous, which has a new show coming up on May 16, 23 & 30 at Mary's Attic. He has told stories with Lifeline Theatre's Filet of Solo Festival, Story Club, Guts & Glory, Solo in the 2nd City and The Paper Machete. He's a food writer for Oy Chicago and Gapers Block and wants to be Whoopi Goldberg when he grows up.

Please join Jeremy and all our other Whoopi-loving readers on Tuesday, May 6, 2014, upstairs at Hopleaf at 7:30 pm. This 21-and-older event is free.

James Finn Garner is best known as the author of the international best-seller, Politically Correct Bedtime Stories, which sold more than 2 million copies in the US and was translated into 25 languages. He has been published in Chicago Magazine, Playboy, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and TV Guide, and has been heard on NPR and the BBC. A veteran performer, he has recently read at The Paper Machete, Write Club, That's All She Wrote, Essay Fiesta and Reading Under the Influence. His current project is the seminal clown noir mystery trilogy starring Rex Koko, Private Clown: Honk Honk My Darling, Double Indignity and The Wet Nose of Danger. Babes! Bullets! Banana peels! For more dope, check out jamesfinngarner.com, pally.

Please join James and all our other wise guy readers on Tuesday, May 6, 2014, upstairs at Hopleaf at 7:30 pm. This 21-and-older event is free.

Gint Aras (Karolis Gintaras Žukauskas) has been trapped on planet Earth since 1973. His writing has appeared in Square One, Antique Children, Criminal Class Review, The Hellgate Review, Curbside Splendor, Šiaurės Atėnai, Dialogo, The Good Men Project and other publications. He photographs Walls and Puddles, and is the author of the cult novel, Finding the Moon in Sugar. Aras earned his MFA in Writing from Columbia University, and a BA in English and American Literature from the University of Illinois. He currently lives in Oak Park, IL with his family.

Please join Gint and all our other prolific readers on Tuesday, May 6, 2014, upstairs at Hopleaf at 7:30 pm. This 21-and-older event is free.

Melissa Wiley is a freelance writer and editor seizing every opportunity to walk barefoot with half-painted toenails through airport security and stammer in pidgin tongues. Her travel writing has been anthologized in Whereabouts: Stepping Out of Place, and she is contributing editor and columnist for the online literary magazine Storyacious. You can find her go-go dancing at the occasional craft fair and trying to hula hoop at the odd surfer-space party. She can hold her breath for only 10 seconds but can float for hours.

Please join Melissa and all our other oxygen-dependent readers on Tuesday, May 6, 2014, upstairs at Hopleaf at 7:30 pm. This 21-and-older event is free.