Well, it's August, and August is the month for supporting your favorite writers. Actually, that's not true... you should be doing it EVERY month! Tonight is yet another chance at Tuesday Funk! We've got the likes of Henri Harps, Robert McDonald, Ryan DiGiorgi, Hallie Paladino, and Daniel Kraus! Plus your ever-charming and hygienic 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!

Robert McDonald's prose and poetry have appeared in a wide variety of print and online journals. He lives in Andersonville, works at in independent bookstore, and blogs about poetry and other things at Lives of the Spiders. With Kathie Bergquist, he is the author of A Field Guide to Gay & Lesbian Chicago.

Please join Robert and all our wonderful readers on Tuesday, August 4, 2015, upstairs at Hopleaf at 7:30 pm. This 21-and-older event is free.

Henri Harps is a musician, jazz fanatic and writer, originally from Washington D.C. After spending the last 10 years brooding over the-point-of-it-all from various vantage points within the flailing cultural anomaly known as Brooklyn, NY, he has finally come to terms with his right to properly chill and behold the beauty of more affordable rent and Midwestern beer; He does this, of course, from a happy home in Chicago, where he lives with his wife, 2 dogs, cat, and guitar collection.

Please join Henri and all our wonderful readers on Tuesday, August 4, 2015, upstairs at Hopleaf at 7:30 pm. This 21-and-older event is free.

Daniel Kraus is a Chicago-based writer, editor, and filmmaker. He is the author of The Monster Variations (New York Public Library's "100 Best Stuff for Teens"), Rotters (Odyssey Award winner, Bram Stoker Finalist), Scowler (Odyssey Award winner, Library Guild selection), and Trollhunters (co-authored with filmmaker Guillermo del Toro.) Upcoming novels include The Death and Live of Zebulon Finch, Volumes 1 and 2 (2015, 2016).

Kraus has written regularly for such magazines as Cosmopolitan, Playboy, Maxim, and Salon.com. He is the director of six nationally broadcast feature films, including Musician (New York Times Critics' Pick). Visit him at danielkraus.com.

Please join Daniel and all our accomplished readers on Tuesday, August 4, 2015, upstairs at Hopleaf at 7:30 pm. This 21-and-older event is free.

Hallie Palladino is one of the original founders of Tuesday Funk which she enjoyed co-hosting until 2010 when, on the verge of having a baby, she wisely passed the torch to William Shunn. A two-time graduate of the University of Chicago, Hallie enjoys contributing to academic books, journals and conferences for fun, though she's not technically an academic. On the more creative side of things, her short play Sunrise: Ardmore Beach was produced this summer as part of the Something Marvelous Festival of Magical Realism. Currently Hallie is working on a series non-fiction essays about her family.

Please join Hallie and all our stellar readers on Tuesday, August 4, 2015, upstairs at Hopleaf at 7:30 pm. This 21-and-older event is free.

Ryan DiGiorgi makes things for the internet. He spends most of his time trying to convince large companies to approve his robot jokes. He also writes fiction, co-produces the podcast Hello from the Magic Tavern, and eats at Chipotle.

Please join Ryan and all our amazing readers on Tuesday, August 4, 2015, upstairs at Hopleaf at 7:30 pm. This 21-and-older event is free.

Will this summer ever really heat up? We'll see, but Tuesday Funk will definitely be hot in August as we welcome guests Henri Harps, Robert McDonald, Ryan DiGiorgi, Hallie Palladino and Daniel Kraus to your favorite eclectic monthly reading series. Join us Tuesday, Aug. 4 in the upstairs lounge at Hopleaf, 5148 N. Clark St.

Doors open at 7:00 pm sharp -- no earlier, please, but get there as close to 7 as possible to grab a table, as the room fills up quickly -- and the show begins promptly at 7:30. Andrew Huff and Eden Robins co-host. Admission is free, but you must be 21 or older.

RSVP on Facebook and, as always, bring a friend. Don't forget to become a fan so you never miss an invitation to one of our readings.

The July 7 edition of Tuesday Funk brought an eclectic medley of performers and haiku by co-host Andrew Huff, as well as a selected poem by someone on Twitter.

No more gay marriage.
It's just plain old marriage now.
So it is ordered.

Also, women's soccer
is just soccer from now on.
Go Team USA!

How many churches
must burn before we call it
domestic terror?

I eat my peas with guacamole,
I've done it all my life.
They do taste kind of funny,
But it keeps them on my knife.

I have closed the tabs
that were in the browser
and which you were probably
saving to read.
Forgive me, they hogged memory
and were so old.
   &emdash @stvnrlly, after William Carlos Williams

Wow, what a show. Not much more to say than that. Seeya next month!

I kid, I kid.

The night started off strong with Lily Be's telling of how our stories - particularly those of people of color - can be taken from us and twisted in sometimes catastrophic ways. Norman Doucet followed with an essay exploring his own prejudices and where they came from. And co-host Eden Robins finished up the half with an excerpt from her novel about golems and race in the age of the AIDS epidemic.

We all pretty much needed a drink after that.

The second half featured Erin Watson, who delighted us with her poems and essay. And then Fred Sasaki ended the night by reading a series of hilarious emails he wrote to a literary convention, pretending to be an indignant author expecting an invite.

We explored all reaches of human emotion on Tuesday, and you know what? We're going to do it again! So join us on Tuesday, August 4 for our next round of fabulous readers: Henri Harps, Robert McDonald, Ryan DiGiorgi, Hallie Paladino, and Daniel Kraus!

Got plans? Cancel them and come to Tuesday Funk! Tonight we've got the likes of Erin Watson, Norman Doucet, Lily Be, Fred Sasaki, and co-host Eden Robins... who will also be hosting, as always, with the dashing Andrew Huff.

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!