The Sundress Academy for the Arts hosts the Sundress Workshop Series, a series of generative writing workshops emphasizing composition, revision, and creative development. As part of Sundress Publications, the Sundress Workshop Series provide focused and expert instruction to writers of all skill levels. Participants are treated to guidance from advanced instructors who help them to not only hone their craft but also opportunities to create and share new work.
Workshops
The Intersection of Religion and Mental Health in Poetry
November 12th, 2025, 6:00-7:30PM EST
http://tiny.utk.edu/sundress
The Sundress Academy for the Arts is excited to present “The Intersection of Religion and Mental Health in Poetry,” a workshop led by Maya Williams on Wednesday, November 12th from 6:00-7:30 PM EST. This event will be held over Zoom. Participants can access the event at tiny.utk.edu/sundress (password: safta).
Regardless of the religious, nonreligious, irreligious, or spiritual worldview we identify with, the culture of religion continues to be an influence on people’s mental health. We will look at poetry by Adrienne Novy, Eugenia Leigh, and Maya Williams to learn how suicidality, spiritual bypassing, and religious related trauma in poetics can impact us. We will also make time to write in response to prompts inspired by the poems.
While there is no fee to participate in this workshop, those who are able and appreciative may make donations directly to Maya Williams via Venmo: @MayaWilliams16
Maya Williams (ey/they/she) is a religious Black multiracial nonbinary suicide survivor who was selected as Portland, ME’s seventh poet laureate for a July 2021 to July 2024 term. Eir debut poetry collection Judas & Suicide (Game Over Books, 2023) was selected as a finalist for a New England Book Award. Their second poetry collection, Refused a Second Date (Harbor Editions, 2023), was selected as a finalist for a Maine Literary Award. Their third poetry collection, What’s So Wrong with a Pity Party Anyway?, was selected as one of four winners of Garden Party Collective’s chapbook prize in 2024.
This event is brought to you by a grant provided by the Tennessee Arts Commission.
Word/Play: A Generative Poetry Workshop
December 10th, 2025, 6:00-7:30PM EST
http://tiny.utk.edu/sundress
The Sundress Academy for the Arts is excited to present “Word/Play: A Generative Poetry Workshop,” a workshop led by Aerik Francis on Wednesday, December 10th from 6:00-7:30 PM EST. This event will be held over Zoom. Participants can access the event at tiny.utk.edu/sundress (password: safta).
Wordplay is time traveling: it is an opportunity to explore the history of words and languages while also crafting new futures and directions for words and language. Wordplay can bring fun and pleasure back into the craft of writing. Words can also enact dramatic plays, exploring the nuances of language using sound and employing multiple meanings at once.
This generative writing poetry workshop is an invitation to play with words and engage critically with craft. We will begin with an opportunity to sandbox and play with language based on impulse and intuition. Then, after our warm up writing activity where we will gather a bank of words and sounds, we will spend the workshop discussing tools and poetry related to wordplay with a special focus on homonyms, homophones, and puns. We’ll draw inspiration from work by authors like Christina Sharpe, Evelyn Berry, Franny Choi, Emily Pérez, and Haryette Mullen before experimenting on our own. By the end of the workshop, we’ll all hopefully have seedlings of poetic writing for future work and more craft tools to bring back into our own craft practices.
While there is no fee to participate in this workshop, those who are able and appreciative may make donations directly to Aerik Francis via Venmo at @Aerik-Francis or Paypal at aerfrancis@gmail.com.
Aerik Francis is a Queer Black Latinx poet born & based on the lands of the Arapaho, Cheyenne, and Ute peoples currently known as Denver, Colorado, USA. Aerik wants us to come together and gum up the gears of the machinery of the empire toward all of our collective liberation. Their poetry chapbook MISEDUCATION (New Delta Review 2023) can be purchased online or in person, and their newest poetry chapbook BODYPOLITIC is forthcoming with Abode Press in 2026. Find more of their work on their website phaentompoet.com or via social media @phaentompoet.
This event is brought to you by a grant provided by the Tennessee Arts Commission.