At our June 4th edition of Tuesday Funk, co-host William Shunn was on vacation, and Andrew Huff opted to explain where he was with a haiku:

Despite Tuesday Funk,
Bill is off in Amsterdam
to see Rush. Jealous?

Later in the show, Andrew read two more haiku, remarking on the weather we'd been having:

A nursery rhyme:
Rain, rain, go away. Please don't
ruin Memorial Day.

Beginning of June
isn't normally this cold.
What will July bring?

And if you enjoyed that, please join us at 7:30 pm on Tuesday, August 6th, 2013, upstairs at Hopleaf, for an evening with Bradley P. Beaulieu, Jac Jemc, Steven H Silver, Maggie Jenkins, and Dmitry Samarov.

Five dozen episodes of Tuesday Funk?! We can hardly believe it ourselves, and to celebrate this startling milestone we've put together a fantastic lineup for you for your listening pleasure. The roster will feature Bradley P. Beaulieu, Jac Jemc, Steven H Silver, Maggie Jenkins, and Dmitry Samarov. Throw in one of our patented Poems by Bill, some Haiku by Andrew, and your pick of cold beers from around the world, and you've got all the ingredients for a hot August night of diamond quality.

The evening gets underway with your hosts William Shunn and Andrew Huff on Tuesday, August 6th, 2013, 7:30 pm, in the upstairs lounge at Hopleaf, 5148 N. Clark St., Chicago. Arrive early for a table and grab a beer from Mark at the 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 standing room only for last week's edition of Tuesday Funk at Hopleaf, and the delighted crowd alternately sobbed with laughter, groaned in revulsion, and wept into their beers. It was as fine a Funk as you can imagine, all credit to our great readers. If you couldn't attend, let's recap what you missed.

We kicked off the fun with Kendra Stevens, who hilariously showed us what it means to grow up a scrappy trailer-park kid. Eden M. Robins followed that up with an excerpt from a short story about a very funny and puzzling afterlife, modeled after an Automat. An interstitial Poem by Bill, "Coney Island Lifeguard Blues," painted a portrait of an angry young man and his angry young hand on the New York City subway. And co-host Andrew Huff brought us a deft series of fake restaurant and cultural reviews from the pages of Gapers Block.

After a break for beer and a few timely Haiku by Andrew, horror writer Bill Breedlove related the strange, entertaining, and unsettling tale of two children's television employees and a witch. And finally, award-winning YA writer Daniel Kraus closed out our program with a terrific excerpt from his latest novel, Scowler.

All in all, it was an amazing night, but if you couldn't be there, don't despair. We'll bring you plenty of video excerpts in the weeks to come, and then we'll top ourselves yet again on Tuesday, August 6, 2013, with a program featuring Bradley P. Beaulieu, Jac Jemc, Steven H Silver, Maggie Jenkins, and Dmitry Samarov. Don't miss it!

Don't forget—tonight is Tuesday Funk's 59th episode, featuring Bill Breedlove, Eden M. Robins, Andrew Huff, Kendra Stevens, and the only public reading from Scowler by Daniel Kraus. 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!

Andrew Huff is editor and publisher of Gapers Block, a Chicago-centric news and events webzine he co-founded in 2003. A serial early adopter, Huff created his first webpage in 1996; launched his personal blog, me3dia.com, in 2001; and joined both Flickr and Twitter in their infancies.

In addition to Gapers Block, he has also worked for several years as a professional blogger for corporate clients such as American Express, Kenneth Cole, A&E, and Starwood Hotels, and is a sought-after consultant on content-oriented web projects.

He holds a journalism degree from The Ohio State University and a certificate in medical writing and editing from the University of Chicago, and spent 10 years in public relations, working primarily with clients in the healthcare and biotech industries. He has taught in the journalism departments at Loyola University Chicago and Columbia College, and is a frequent speaker at SXSW Interactive and other conferences. In 2009 he was named to the Crain's Chicago Business's "40 Under 40" list.

Andrew lives on the far North Side of Chicago with his wife Cinnamon Cooper and three cats. He has co-hosted Tuesday Funk since April 2013, where his Haiku by Andrew are already a highly anticipated monthly feature.

Please join Andrew and all our outstanding readers on Tuesday, July 2nd, 2013, upstairs at Hopleaf at 7:30 pm. This 21-and-older event is free.

In the grand tradition of underemployed artists, Eden M. Robins has been: a singing waitress, a dildo salesman, a dental assistant, an abortion clinic receptionist, a blowjob instructor, a travel writer, a pelvic model, and a Swahili teacher. She's had some short stories published in magazines that are now defunct, and is the founding editor of the online semiprozine Brain Harvest, also now defunct. She is currently writing her second novel, a weird Western.

Eden has published some things in some places, but not enough things or enough places for you to have noticed. However, you may remember her from the blizzard edition of Tuesday Funk, which none of you showed up to.

Please join Eden and all our outstanding readers on Tuesday, July 2nd, 2013, upstairs at Hopleaf at 7:30 pm. This 21-and-older event is free.

Bill Breedlove is the author of the collection How to Die Well, as well as the Bram Stoker Award-nominated editor of the anthologies Candy in the Dumpster, Waiting for October, Like a Chinese Tattoo, Mighty Unclean, When the Night Comes Down, and Swallowed by the Cracks (with John Everson).

His work has also appeared in publications such as Chicago Tribune, InSider, The Fortune News, Restaurants & Institutions, Bluefood.cc, The Black Glove, Encyclopedia of Actuarial Science, and Playboy Online.

His stories can also be found in the books Tales of Forbidden Passion, Strange Creatures, Tails from the Pet Shop, Book of Dead Things, Cthulhu and the Coeds, and Blood and Donuts. He lives near Chicago. His website is www.curiousstories.com.

Please join Bill and all our outstanding readers on Tuesday, July 2nd, 2013, upstairs at Hopleaf at 7:30 pm. This 21-and-older event is free.

Kendra Stevens is a Chicago-based writer, live-lit performer, comic, and rapper (yeah, that's right). She has performed her original work with the kates and Beast Women since their inceptions, and has also been featured at Story Club (winning Audience Favorite Story December 2012), Chicago Women's Funny Festival, Essay Fiesta, and The Funny Story Show, among others. She is also one-fourth of Chicago's All-Female Beastie Boys Tribute, She's Crafty, spitting rhymes as Ken D.

Find her online at kendrastevens.com and shescraftychi.com, and on Twitter as @kendra_stevens.

Please join Kendra and all our outstanding readers on Tuesday, July 2nd, 2013, upstairs at Hopleaf at 7:30 pm. This 21-and-older event is free.

Daniel Kraus is Senior Editor of Booklist magazine. His debut novel, The Monster Variations, was selected for the New York Public Library's "100 Best Stuff for Teens." Fangoria called his Bram Stoker–finalist, Odyssey Award–winning second novel, Rotters, "a new horror classic."

His newest novel is the Junior Library Guild selection Scowler, and coming next year is Trollhunters, co-written with filmmaker Guillermo del Toro. Kraus has written regularly for such magazines as Cosmopolitan, Playboy, Maxim, and Salon.com.

He is the director of six feature films, including Sheriff (2006 season premiere of PBS's Emmy-winning "Independent Lens") and Musician (2007 New York Times Critics' Pick).

Please join Daniel and all our outstanding readers on Tuesday, July 2nd, 2013, upstairs at Hopleaf at 7:30 pm. This 21-and-older event is free.

Tuesday Funk invites you to walk with us into a deep, dark literary forest this July. The roster will feature Daniel Kraus, Bill Breedlove, Kendra Stevens, Eden M. Robins, and our own Andrew Huff. Throw in one of our patented Poems by Bill and some Haiku by Andrew, not to mention your pick of cold beers from around the world, and you've got all the ingredients for an excursion you won't soon forget.

The evening gets underway with your hosts William Shunn and Andrew Huff on Tuesday, July 2nd, 2012, 7:30 pm, in the upstairs lounge at Hopleaf, 5148 N. Clark St., Chicago. Arrive early for a table and grab a beer from Mark at the bar (where credit cards are now accepted!). 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!