Knoxville, TN: Sundress Academy for the Arts (SAFTA) is now accepting applications for short-term writing residencies in all genres—poetry, fiction, nonfiction, playwriting, screenwriting, journalism, academic writing, and more—for their spring residency period which runs from January 3rd to May 8th, 2027. These residencies are intended to provide writers with the time and space they need to finish their creative ideas in a peaceful environment.
Each farmhouse residency is $350/week, which includes a private room as well as access to our shared kitchen, bathroom, office, and living area, plus wireless internet. Writers Coop residencies are $175/week and include your own private dry cabin in addition to access to the farmhouse amenities.
Residents will stay at the SAFTA farmhouse, located on a working farm on a 45-acre wooded plot in a Tennessee “holler” perfect for hiking, camping, and nature walks. The farmhouse is a half-hour drive from Knoxville, a vibrant city with an engaged literary community. For writers seeking a rural retreat with urban amenities, SAFTA is ideal.
As part of our commitment to anti-racist work, we use a reparations payment model for our farmhouse residencies which consists of the following:
- 3 reparations weeks of equally divided payments for Black and/or Indigenous writers at $150/week
- 3 discounted weeks of equally divided payments for BIPOC writers at $250/week
- 6 equitable weeks of equally divided payments at $350/week
Black and/or Indigenous writers are also invited to apply for a $350 support grant to help cover the costs of food, travel, childcare, and/or any other needs while they are at the residency. We are currently able to offer two of these grants per residency period (spring/summer/fall). If you would like to donate to expand this funding, you may do so on our website.
For the 2026 Fall Residency period, SAFTA will be offering the following fellowships:
- Fellowship for Black & Indigenous Writers: one full fellowship for Black and/or Indigenous identifying writers
- Fellowship for LGBTQIA+ Writers: one full fellowship and one 50% fellowship for an LGBTQIA+ writer
- Smokelong Quarterly Fellowship for Trans Writers: one full fellowship for a trans writer
The application deadline for the spring residency period is September 1, 2026.
For those applying for one of our spring fellowships and who will need financial aid in order to attend, the application fee has been waived. All other application fees will go towards funding travel grants for Black and/or Indigenous identifying writers.
All application fees are also waived from May 1st to 31st, 2026.
