We've put together a terrific lineup for our January edition of Tuesday Funk. The roster will feature Ryan Bartelmay, Kelly Swails, Christa Desir, Jasmine Davila, and Christopher Sweet. We'll also have a round of Haiku by Andrew, and new co-host Eden Robins most likely has something special in store as well. Add in delectable beers from around the world and you've got an evening that will warm your brain and your belly.

The evening gets underway with your hosts Andrew Huff and Eden Robins on Tuesday, January 7th, 2014, 7:30 pm, in the upstairs lounge at Hopleaf, 5148 N. Clark St., Chicago. Doors open at 7:00 pm, no earlier -- arrive early for a table and grab a beer from Mark at the bar. Admission is always free, but you must be 21 or older. And come early or stay late after for some great Belgian-style food downstairs.

Please bring plenty of friends, and become a fan of Tuesday Funk on Facebook so you never miss an invitation to one of our readings. See you there!

In his final appearance as a Tuesday Funk co-host, author William Shunn read an excerpt from his novelette “After the Earthquake a Fire,” a story of mice, missionaries, and misery set in the northern Idaho of the 1980s:

If you enjoyed that, please come out to our next event on Tuesday, January 7, 2014, which features readings from Ryan Bartelmay, Kelly Swails, Christa Desir, Jasmine Davila, and Christopher Sweet — as well as more haiku from Andrew and the debut of new co-host Eden Robins. See you there!

At our October reading, James Kennedy delivered the rousing first chapter of his new novel The Magnificent Moots. If you were there, you know it was a multimedia marvel and a technological triumph. If not, well, feast your eyes and ears on this...

And if you enjoyed that, please come out to our next event on Tuesday, January 7, 2014, which features readings from Ryan Bartelmay, Kelly Swails, Christopher Sweet, and more. You won't want to miss it!

If it was a bittersweet affair earlier this week at Tuesday Funk, it was also a raucous one. We might have said goodbye to a longtime co-host, but we certainly didn't say goodbye to the eclectic and irreverent spirit of the series!

We kicked things off in fine fashion with plagiarized tweets and a madcap tale of elder care from a very animated Davis Schneiderman. Jocelyn Geboy followed that up with the funny and painful tale of her week in a psych ward. Our regular feature Haiku by Andrew delighted us with topical verse. And J. Michael Grey closed out the first half of our program leading four players in a staged reading of his short play about fathers and fortune and homophobia and more, all set in an Irish pub.

After a break for beer from Mark at the bar, we were treated to a brief history of Poems by Bill (including return visits to "Dogwalker's Algorithm" and "Under Their Skirts"), along with one last new poem for the occasion. G.P.A. arrived just in the nick of time to bring us the stirring and heartbreaking tale of the bully who stole his chocolate milk. And finally, in his final appearance as a co-host, William Shunn delivered a new short story about Mormon missionaries, mouse murder, and an elderly Russian Jew in northern Idaho.

So that's what you missed out on if you missed out on Tuesday Funk, but never fear! We'll bring you plenty of video excerpts in the weeks to come, and then we'll be back on Tuesday, January 7th, 2014, for an evening with Ryan Bartelmay, Kelly Swails, Christa Desir, Jasmine Davila, and Christopher Sweet. Please don't miss it!

Don't forget—tonight is Tuesday Funk's 64th episode, featuring G.P.A. (Greatest Poet Alive), Jocelyn Geboy, Davis Schneiderman, J. Michael Grey, and—in his final appearance as a Tuesday Funk co-host—William Shunn! Don't miss it!

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!

William Shunn has served as co-producer and co-host of Tuesday Funk since our 27th episode in October 2010. He devised our current five-reader format, introduced such popular recurring features as our Poem by Bill, and designed and programmed our website. He also blogs and occasionally podcasts at www.shunn.net.

An acclaimed writer of short fiction, Bill has been shortlisted for the highest awards in science fiction, including the Hugo, the Nebula, and the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award. In June he moved with his wife and dog to New York City, where he's turned his attention to a series of linked stories drawn from his experiences as a Mormon missionary in the late 1980's. He has returned to Chicago every month since moving to keep hosting Tuesday Funk, but will hang up his hat at last after next week's show. Does a Tuesday Funk East lurk somewhere around the corner? Only time will tell.

Please join Bill—for the last time!—and all our celebrated readers on Tuesday, December 3rd, 2013, upstairs at Hopleaf at 7:30 pm. This 21-and-older event is free.

At our November 5th edition of Tuesday Funk, Vojislav Pejović took us to Belgrade for an excerpt from his powerful new story "Rearrangements," and it sounded just a little like this...

And if you enjoyed that, please come out to our next event on Tuesday, December 3, 2013, which features readings from G.P.A. (Greatest Poet Alive), Jocelyn Geboy, Davis Schneiderman, J. Michael Grey, and—in his final appearance as a Tuesday Funk co-host—William Shunn! You won't want to miss it!

G.P.A. (Greatest Poet Alive) hails from Chicago's South Side. He is the author of four books of poetry, inlcuding the 2013 Poetry Book of the Year Revenge of the Orgasm (An Erotic Autobiography). G.P.A. has won the Moth Storytelling Slam twice, won Gold, Silver, and Bronze medals in the Poetry Pentathlon, won the Michael Baisden Poetry Slam, and most recently, won Urban Image Magazine's Talent Search. Currently he is working on a novel, Bobo's Middle School Adventures.

Please join G.P.A. and all our celebrated readers on Tuesday, December 3rd, 2013, upstairs at Hopleaf at 7:30 pm. This 21-and-older event is free.

At our November 5th edition of Tuesday Funk, Tuesday Funk veteran J.H. Palmer led us on a most unusual tour of Dallas, and it sounded a little like this...

And if you enjoyed that, please come out to our next event on Tuesday, December 3, 2013, which features readings from G.P.A. (Greatest Poet Alive), Jocelyn Geboy, Davis Schneiderman, J. Michael Grey, and—in his final appearance as a Tuesday Funk co-host—William Shunn! You won't want to miss it!

J. Michael Grey is a playwright and essayist. Many of his plays have been acted out at Blue Box World's now ten years running play series, STICKY, in New York City, including NO L. coming up later in December.

Please join Michael and all our celebrated readers on Tuesday, December 3rd, 2013, upstairs at Hopleaf at 7:30 pm. This 21-and-older event is free.