Chicago is getting its own down-home writers conference! The Chicago Writers Conference will take place September 14-16 at Tribune Tower in beautiful downtown Chicago. Speakers and presenters include Chuck Sambuchino, Robert K. Elder, and Cinnamon Cooper, while special readings will be staged by both Essay Fiesta and your very own Tuesday Funk.

But the Chicago Writers Conference can only happen with your help! I'd explain why the conference deserves your support, but there's already a compelling plea from organizer Mare Swallow, Write Club founder Ian Belknap, and yours truly up on Kickstarter. Check us out:

So please kick in a few shekels and help support the Chicago Writers Conference. Several great incentives are available, including a story critique (up to 10,000 words) from me for a mere $175 pledge. Please help, and we'll looking forward to seeing you at Tribune Tower in September!

Charlotte Hart lives in Evanston, Illinois. Her poetry has been published in Journals such as Apparatus Magazine, Barnwood International Poetry Magazine, The Aurorean, Thema, and Dot Dot Dash. She has two books of poetry: The Pegasus Ring (2008) and a new chapbook, Organic Spirits (2011) by Finishing Line Press. Her poem, Clark Street Beach, is incised in concrete in front of the public library in Evanston, IL.

Charlotte has held solo exhibitions of her visual art at the Studio im Hochhaus in Berlin, and the Art Institute of Chicago where her work is in the permanent collection. She has been a part of group exhibitions at the Smithsonian National Museum of American Art, the New York Academy of Design and the Drawing Center. Her illustrations have accompanied titles published by Simon and Schuster. Her website is www.charlotte-hart.com.

Join Tuesday Funk April 3 at 7:30 p.m. at Hopleaf's upstairs bar to hear Charlotte read!

J.H. Palmer is a writer and storyteller, and is in possession of a range of superpowers which include the ability to use public toilets and tame feral cats (but not at the same time.)

She has performed at Story Club, Story Lab, Essay Fiesta, This Much Is True, The Moth GrandSLAM, Mortified, and 2nd Story. She is a regular contributor at Gapers Block and Chicago Theater Beat, and is pursuing a Certificate in Creative Writing at the University of Chicago.

As of this writing, she is unemployed, so hook a sister up if you can.

Join Tuesday on April 3 at 7:30 p.m. at Hopleaf's upstairs bar to hear J.H. Palmer read!

Mare Swallow is the host of the Chicago Publishes Podcast and the founder of the upcoming Chicago Writers Conference, this September in Chicago. She is also a public speaking coach who writes whenever she can.

Join Tuesday Funk April 3 at 7:30 p.m. at Hopleaf's upstairs bar to hear Mare read!

Richard Chwedyk won a Nebula Award for his novella, "Bronte's Egg" in 2003. He has also been nominated for the Hugo, the Rhysling, and shortlisted for the Theodore Sturgeon Award.

His fiction has appeared in the anthologies Nebula Awards Showcase 2004, Year's Best SF 7, Tales From the Red Lion, Visual Journeys, Hell in the Heartland and Cthulhu and the Coeds, or: Kids and Squids; and in the magazines Fantasy and Science Fiction, Amazing Stories and Space and Time. His poetry has appeared in Year's Best SF 8, Strange Horizons, Tales of the Unanticipated and most recently in the tribute anthology 80! Memories & Reflections on Ursula K. Le Guin.

A lifelong Chicagoan, Chwedyk received his undergraduate degree from Columbia College Chicago and an M.A. in in English from Northwestern University. He currently teaches the regular and advanced Science Fiction Writing Workshop courses for Columbia College Chicago. He has led or moderated numerous writing workshops since 1991, taught Freshman Rhetoric/Composition and Short Story Writing for several area community colleges. He is currently working on a collection of stories. Rumors of a novel are getting louder.

Join Tuesday Funk April 3 at 7:30 p.m. at Hopleaf's upstairs bar to hear Richard read!

At our March Tuesday Funk reading, the versatile Joe Weintraub pitched us this curveball, charting a Cubs pennant race from the vantage point of home...

And if you enjoyed that, then by no means should you miss our next event, Tuesday, April 3, 2012, which features readings from Mary Anne Mohanraj, J.H. Palmer, Charlotte Hart, Mare Swallow, and Richard Chwedyk.

At last week's Tuesday Funk reading, Sunday Night Sex Show impresaria Robyn Pennacchia explained in no uncertain terms exactly why she won't swim with dolphins, and it went a little like this...

And if you enjoyed that, then by no means should you miss our next event, Tuesday, April 3, 2012, which features readings from Mary Anne Mohanraj, J.H. Palmer, Charlotte Hart, Mare Swallow, and Richard Chwedyk.

Calling all book lovers! Calling all beer lovers! Have we got the evening for you! Our 44th episode of Tuesday Funk will feature readings from Mary Anne Mohanraj, J.H. Palmer, Charlotte Hart, Mare Swallow, and Richard Chwedyk! You'll also get a new Poem By Bill, not to mention your pick of dozens of varieties of cold beer at the bar.

The evening gets underway with your co-hosts Sara Ross Witt and William Shunn on Tuesday, April 3, 2012, 7:30 pm, in the upstairs lounge at Hopleaf, 5148 N. Clark St., Chicago. Arrive early for a seat, and grab a beer from Johnny at the cash-only bar. We start seating at 7:00 pm and no earlier. 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!

It was certainly a Super Tuesday last night at Hopleaf—a Super Tuesday Funk, that is! Your humble co-host brought you election updates throughout the evening (see the video below), but the real excitement was in seeing what surprises our five candidates for literary greatness would bring us next!

The program kicked off with Joe Weintraub, who related the hilarious and sad portrait of marriage whose fortunes founder along with the Cubs'. Former Tuesday Funk host Hallie Palladino walked us delicately through the joys and perils of intimacy after childbirth. And Maggie Kast transported us back to the Jazz Age with a stirring excerpt from her novel-in-progress.

After a halftime break for beer and a Poem by Bill, Sunday Night Sex Show impresaria Robyn Pennacchia explained in no uncertain terms the risks involved in swimming with dolphins. (We can't wait to bring you video of that one!) And horror maester John Everson wrapped things up in a bloody bow with two tales of unspeakable evil.

But if you weren't there, don't eat your heart out! We'll be posting video from the evening's performances over the coming days and weeks so you can catch up on everything you missed. And of course Tuesday Funk will be back on April 3rd with our guests Mary Anne Mohanraj, J.H. Palmer, Charlotte Hart, Mare Swallow, and Richard Chwedyk. Be sure to join us!

What's that shimmering oasis on the horizon? Why, it's Tuesday Funk, and if you set out now you just might reach Hopleaf in time tonight for our 43rd big episode.

Our remarkable lineup tonight includes John Everson, Robyn Pennacchia, Maggie Kast, Joe Weintraub, and former Tuesday Funk host Hallie Palladino, not to mention one of our patented Poems By Bill.

So "like" us today on Facebook, strap on those walking shoes, grab one of dozens of varieties of beer from the bar, and get set for an evening of entertainment worth the trek.

Hopleaf Bar is at 5148 N. Clark St. in Chicago. The reading begins at 7:30 pm in the upstairs lounge. The lounge opens at 7:00 pm. Arrive early if you want a seat.

As always, the upstairs lounge at Hopleaf is cash-only and 21 and over. Remember also that no food can be brought in from the restaurant.