Reach for the sky, pardner!

No, wait, put your hands down! We meant that in an entirely metaphorical and inspirational sense, which is why we're bringing you the entirely inspirational and not at all metaphorical lineup of talent at tonight's edition of Tuesday Funk. That's the monthly Chicago reading series where good writing and good beer mix, and where this evening we're celebrating our 34th big episode!

Our amazing guests tonight will include the up-to-the-minute reportage of Scott Smith, the phantasmagorical fiction of Brooke Wonders, the epic fantasy of Bradley P. Beaulieu, the time-twisting humor of Tim W. Brown, and the harrowing futures of Paul McComas. We'll also throw in a not-quite-epic Poem By Bill for no additional charge. It promises to be the best reading of what has so far been a stellar season, so you won't want to miss it. And the event is absolutely free, though if you want to buy a beer or two, we sure would be obliged.

Hopleaf 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 for 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.

Paul McComas is the author of four critically acclaimed books—two novels, Planet of the Dates (currently in development as a Hollywood feature) and Unplugged, and the short-story collections Unforgettable: Harrowing Futures, Horrors, and (Dark) Humor and Twenty Questions (now in its third printing)—as well as the editor of two anthologies, First Person Imperfect and Further Persons Imperfect. He recently co-authored the novel Logan's Journey (slated for 2012 publication) with William F. Nolan, bestselling author of the science-fiction classic Logan's Run, and is currently editing an anthology of "place-based fiction" called Proving Grounds.

His short narrative films and videos have garnered international, national, and regional prizes, been screened at festivals worldwide, and been shown on network, public, and cable TV.

Since 1987, Paul—two-time recipient of the Chicago Reader's Critic's Choice—has performed his own work at ninety theaters and other venues nationwide, as well as on National Public Radio's "Tavis Smiley Show" and on numerous NPR affiliates. The Chicago Tribune calls his performance style "urgent and mesmerizing," and the Chicago Sun-Times says, "No one is doing in-store readings as lively."

Since 1998, Paul has taught writing, literature, and film at numerous sites and at multiple levels, from adult-ed to Master's programs, winning teaching awards from Northwestern and National-Louis universities. He has been a Visiting Artist at twenty universities, academies, and arts-centered high schools, and he lectures about literature and writing nationwide, in part through Chicago's News & Views speakers' bureau.

Paul founded the teen-suicide-prevention program Rock Against Depression (1995-2000) and received the Mental Health Association's Distinguished Service Award. He is also a Leadership Circle inductee of the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network (RAINN). Paul's anthologies, charity concerts, Dayna Clay CD, "No-Budget Theatre" DVD, and Amateur two-CD set have raised $10,500 to date for RAINN, mental-health outreach, wilderness preservation, at-risk youth, and blood services (he recently donated his one-hundredth pint).

Paul has received grants from the Illinois Arts Council, the Evanston Arts Council, Northwestern University, and Notre Dame University.

Born and raised in Milwaukee, Paul received a BA in English from Lawrence University and an MA in Film from Northwestern. He and wife Heather McComas, a fellow fiction writer, live in Evanston, IL, with their newly adopted rescue greyhound, Sam.

Hear Paul read Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m. with the rest of our crew at Hopleaf's upstairs bar!

Tim W. Brown was born and raised in Rockford, Illinois. In 1983 he graduated summa cum laude from Northern Illinois University with a degree in American studies. He is the author of four novels, Deconstruction Acres (1997), Left of the Loop (2001), Walking Man (2008), and Second Acts (2010), which won the 2010 London Book Festival Award for General Fiction.

Brown's fiction, poetry and nonfiction have appeared in over two hundred publications, including Another Chicago Magazine, The Bloomsbury Review, The Brooklyn Rail, Chelsea, Chiron Review, Colorado Review, The Ledge, Main Street Rag, New Observations, Oyez Review, Pleiades, Poetry Project Newsletter, Rain Taxi Review of Books, Rockford Review, Slipstream, Small Press Review and Storyhead. He is a member of the National Book Critics Circle, specializing in reviewing small-press books, and he has received literature grants from the Illinois Arts Council, the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, Poets & Writers, and the National Writer's Voice, as well as a fellowship from the Ragdale Foundation.

A long-time resident of Chicago, where he was a fixture in that city's literary scene as a writer, performer, and publisher of the poetry zine Tomorrow Magazine (1982-1999), Brown moved to New York in 2003. He currently earns his living as a writer at Bloomberg LP.

 

Join our friends From The Chicago Way series this Sunday, May 1st as tehy host a release party for Issue 4.1 of the fine literary journal Criminal Class Review, www.criminalclasspress.com, with short readings from local contributors Eric May, Patricia Ann McNair, Gary Johnson, Tomo Popp, Gint Aras, Gene Gregorits, and Jeff Kerr. They're featuring more Chicago crime -- both non-fiction and fiction. 

They'll host an audience-interactive Q&A with author Jonathan Eig, whose bestselling book, "Get Capone," has just been released in paperback. And they'll round out the evening with a themed, interactive game, complete with prizes. No cover charge!

Find them in the back room at The Hidden Shamrock, 2723 N. Halstead Street. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. For more information and author bios, visit their website: www.chicagowayseries.com.  

Bradley P. Beaulieu is the author of The Winds of Khalakovo, the first of three planned books in "The Lays of Anuskaya" series. In addition to being an L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future Award winner, Brad's stories have appeared in various other publications, including Realms of Fantasy Magazine, Orson Scott Card's Intergalactic Medicine Show, Writers of the Future 20, and several anthologies from DAW Books. His story, "In the Eyes of the Empress's Cat," was voted a Notable Story of 2006 in the Million Writers Award.

Like any writer, Brad had a lot of influences along the way, but the ones that stand out the most are J.R.R. Tolkien, George R.R. Martin, C.S. Friedman, Guy Gavriel Kay, Tim Powers, and (last but not least) Glen Cook. Brad is a software engineer by day, wrangling code into something resembling usefulness. He is also an amateur cook. He loves to cook spicy dishes, particularly Mexican and southwestern. He lives in Racine, Wisconsin with his wife and two children. As time goes on, however, Brad finds that his hobbies are slowly being whittled down to these two things: family and writing. In that order...

Come hear Brad and the rest of our crew read May 3 at 7:30 p.m. in Hopleaf's upstairs bar!

Brooke Wonders is a Ph.D. student at the University of Illinois at Chicago, where she studies trauma theory and nonfiction, while secretly writing dark fantasy on the side. This summer she will be attending the storied Clarion Writers' Workshop in San Diego on a partial scholarship. Ask her how excited she is by this. On second thought, don't. She may explode.

Join us Tuesday, May 3, at 7:30 p.m. to hear Brooke and our whole crew read at Hopleaf's upstairs bar.

Scott Smith has two jobs, at present. The one he gets paid for in dollars involves digital strategy at Chicago magazine. The one he gets paid for in experience and graying hair involves parenting his daughter Abigail with his wife Erin.

The limited time he has left in the day is usually spent on Twitter, metaphorically framing life events in terms of comic books or West Wing episodes: twitter.com/ourmaninchicago.

Check out Scott and the rest of our crew on Tuesday, May 3rd, at 7:30 p.m. in Hopleaf's upstairs bar!

We'll have more to tell you about Bradley P. Beaulieu in the next week or so, since he'll be part of our upcoming Tuesday Funk reading on May 3rd. But in case you're near Milwaukee today and need something fun to do, we wanted to let you know about this afternoon's book launch party for Brad's new epic fantasy novel, The Winds of Khalakovo.

Drop by the Boswell Book Company in Milwaukee this afternoon, Saturday, April 23rd, from 2:00 to 3:00 pm, where Brad will be reading from The Winds of Khalakovo and signing copies.

Then stop by the informal after-party at Cafe Hollander from 3:00 to 5:00 pm for music, food, and a rapid-fire reading with some of Brad's writing buddies. We hear there will also be a raffle with all kinds of cool swag to win! (For more info about the launch and after-party, click here.)

Winds is already garnering raves from the likes of Publishers Weekly and Library Journal, so don't miss your chance to pick up a signed copy and party with the up-and-coming author.

And be sure not to miss Brad and the rest of our monstrously talented crew May 3rd at Hopleaf in Chicago!

We've told you before about New York City's Laura Peterson Choreography and their campaign to finance a visit to us here in Chicago. Well, apparently you listened to us because the company raised a bit more than their goal of $1,700. Thanks for your help, Funkers!

And tonight you get to reap the rewards of your generosity, as Laura Peterson meets Jason Adasiewicz's Rolldown in collision_theory, an evening of entirely improvised music and dance at Links Hall. Tickets are $12.00. Get yours now, and we'll see you there tonight!

What? collision_theory is a series of improvised performances of curated 'blind-dates' between musicians and dancers. At each show, seasoned improvisers from both disciplines meet for the first time to navigate an unpredictable landscape of spontaneous collaboration.

When? April 18, 2011 at 7:30 pm

Where? Links Hall, 3435 N. Sheffield Avenue, Chicago, IL

How much $12.00 ($10.00 for students and seniors)

Who? Laura Peterson with company members Kate Martel and Edward Rice will perform an evening-length improvisation with composer Jason Adasiewicz and his musicians! This series was created by Dan Mohr and Rachel Damon as part of Links Hall's Artistic Associate programming.

Ah, spring! When birds begin to sing, brooks to babble, books to flit amorously in dappled glens ... and the forecasts call for snow?! But, come sun, rain, or snow, Tuesday Funk will bring you a veritable forest of talent in May, from the likes of Paul McComas, Tim W. Brown, Bradley P. Beaulieu, Brooke Wonders, and our man in Chicago Scott Smith. Oh, and the beer, the beer—eighty varieties of it upstairs alone! It's as if the ales and the lagers were fooling around when everyone's backs were turned.

Tuesday Funk convenes Tuesday, May 3, 2011, 7:30 pm, in the upstairs lounge at Hopleaf, 5148 N. Clark St., Chicago. Arrive early, stake out a table in the upper room, and grab a beer from John 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 afterward 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 our readings, which in future months will feature the likes of Brenda Cooper, Sarah K. Castle, Holly McDowell, Kelly Swails, Gregory A. Wilson, Vincent Jorgensen, Eden M. Robins, Jerry Schwartz, and more. Our cup runneth over!