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, personalized 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 find suitable venues for their work. These monthly workshops are free to attend.
Workshops
Translation as Prompt
May 14th, 2025, 6:00-7:30PM EST
http://tiny.utk.edu/sundress
The Sundress Academy for the Arts is excited to present “Translation as Prompt,” a workshop led by Rebecca Suzuki on Wednesday, May 14th 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).
It is often acknowledged that the most voracious readers are the best writers because reading brilliant texts can inspire our own. And if translation is the most intimate form of reading, can translation transform our writing in a way we didn’t know possible? Experimenting with translation not only forces us to think deeply about a text, but also about language and its potential to open up doors that lead us to places we hadn’t thought of before. In this workshop, participants will play with translation and learn how to think about translation as a prompt to generate new thinking and writing. No previous experience in translation or fluency in a second language necessary.
While there is no fee to participate in this workshop, those who are able and appreciative may make donations directly to Rebecca Suzuki via Venmo: @Rebecca-Suzuki
Rebecca Suzuki is author of When My Mother Is Beautiful, winner of the 2023 Loose Translation Prize and published by Hanging Loose Press in December 2023. She writes creative nonfiction in a mixture of forms and languages, and her work often focuses on the themes of identity, home, family, lineage, immigration, Asian Americanism, language, translation, and more. Her work has been published in various journals and magazines. She is also a translator from Japanese to English and a faculty lecturer of English at Queens College, CUNY. You can find more information at www.rebeccasuzuki.com
This event is brought to you by a grant provided by the Tennessee Arts Commission.
Writing the Chronically Ill Body-Mind
June 18th, 2025, 6:00-7:30PM EST
http://tiny.utk.edu/sundress
The Sundress Academy for the Arts is excited to present “Writing the Chronically Ill Body-Mind,” a workshop led by Chisom Okafor on Wednesday, June 18th 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).
In the poems we’ll read and the ones we’ll write, body and mind will meet. Drawing from our own experiences and the experiences of the people we love, we’ll reclaim narratives and break stereotypes surrounding the chronic condition. Our daily medications will become effective weapons and touchstones for description. We’ll wrest poetry from a place of pain, strength or vulnerability. To help us do this, we’ll be immersing ourselves in a river of poets who explore medical deficiencies or blood conditions: Urvashi Bahuguna, Rachael Boast, Katie Farris, Kayo Chingonyi, Airea D. Matthews, Sarah Nichols and Ada Limón. Finally, we’ll seek to answer the question: How does the chronically ill body-mind create power and occupy space in an ableist world?
While there is no fee to participate in this workshop, those who are able and appreciative may make donations directly to Chisom Okafor via Cashapp: $chisom47 or Paypal: kcokafor1@crimson.ua.edu
Chisom Okafor is the author of Winged Witnesses (University of Nebraska Press, Forthcoming 2025) and the chapbook, All I Know About a Heavy Heart Is How to Carry It (Jacar Press), described by Jaki Shelton Green as “an interrogation of vulnerability through raw, fierce and unflinching energy.” He has received nominations for the CAAPP Book Prize, the Brunel Prize, Gerald Kraak Prize and Pushcart Prize. He has also received support from the Sundress Academy for the Arts (for the SAFTA residency) and Commonwealth Foundation. He presently lives in Tuscaloosa where he is an MFA in Creative Writing candidate at the University of Alabama.
This event is brought to you by a grant provided by the Tennessee Arts Commission.