SAFTA

Workshops

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.

Fragmented Histories: Exploring Identity and Cultural Memory through Erasure Poetry

February 12th, 2025, 6:00-7:30PM EST
http://tiny.utk.edu/sundress

The Sundress Academy for the Arts is excited to present “Fragmented Histories: Exploring Identity and Cultural Memory through Erasure Poetry,” a workshop led by Melanie Hyo-In Han on Wednesday, February 12th, 2025, 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).

Fragmented Histories: Exploring Identity and Cultural Memory through Erasure Poetry — In this workshop, we’ll use erasure and blackout poetry to engage with fragmented histories and cultural memory. Focusing on poets Emily Jungmin Yoon and Don Mee Choi — who address war, migration, and identity through experimental forms — we’ll explore how erasure poetry reveals and reframes historical trauma. Participants will create poems from archival texts, transforming silenced narratives into spaces where marginalized voices can resurface.

After the writing exercises, we’ll reflect together on how fragmented forms can mirror cultural dislocation, personal loss, and resilience. Each participant will leave with a poem that deeply explores themes of identity, history, and memory, along with new tools for navigating complex personal and collective stories. Whether new to poetry or experienced, this session offers fresh approaches to examining identity and cultural memory.

While there is no fee to participate in this workshop, those who are able and appreciative may make donations directly to Melanie Hyo-In Han via PayPal Info: emman.roussel@gmail.com

Born in Korea and raised in East Africa, Melanie Hyo-In Han recently moved from the U.S. to the U.K. She is the author of Abecedarian: Banff, Canada (kith books, 2024), My Dear Yeast (Milk & Cake Press, 2023) and Sandpaper Tongue, Parchment Lips (Finishing Line Press, 2021), as well as the translator of several collections of Spanish poetry (Hebel Ediciones). Han has received fellowships from Sundress Academy for the Arts and Banff Centre and is the Co-Editor-in-Chief of Flora Fiction and Two Languages Prize Editor at Gasher Press. Learn more about her at melaniehan.com.

This event is brought to you  by a grant provided by the Tennessee Arts Commission.

a lot of curiosities

March 19th, 2025, 6:00-7:30PM EST
http://tiny.utk.edu/sundress

The Sundress Academy for the Arts is excited to present “a lot of curiosities” creative writing workshop led by Danielle Shandiin Emerson on Wednesday, March 19 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).

This is a hybrid introductory workshop titled, “a lot of curiosities,” based off of an interview by Diné author, Stacie Denetsosie where she notes how asking questions and curiosity influences her writing. Storytelling comes from a place of warmth. It draws ever-changing connections between home, family, memory, and culture.

This generative, crafty workshop aims to introduce a series of tools, ideas, and curiosities to storytellers of all levels, but especially those looking to dip their toes into creative writing for the first time. The workshop will consist of a short discussion asking the question: what is creative writing? And a guided session of an open writing prompt, titled “The Hands That Make Us.” Through this generative prompt, we’ll explore the stories in our hands, literally. Participants will come out with either a poem or piece of hybrid prose.

While there is no fee to participate in this workshop, those who are able and appreciative may make donations directly to Danielle Shandiin Emerson via Venmo: @dani-emer or CashApp: Danielle Emerson

Danielle Shandiin Emerson is a Diné writer from Shiprock, New Mexico on the Navajo Nation. Her clans are Tłaashchi’i (Red Cheek People Clan), born for Ta’neezaahníí (Tangled People Clan). She has a B.A. in Education Studies and a B.A. in Literary Arts from Brown University. She’s a 2024 GrubStreet Emerging Writers Fellow, a 2024 Lambda Literary Fellow, and a 2024 Diné Artisan + Author Capacity Building Institute Fellow. She has work published and/or forthcoming from swamp pink, Kweli Journal, Poets.org, Yellow Medicine Review, Thin Air Magazine, The Chapter House Journal, and others.

This event is brought to you  by a grant provided by the Tennessee Arts Commission.