Sundress Academy for the rts Presents September Reading Series

The Sundress Academy for the Arts is pleased to announce the guests for the September installment of our reading series. This event will take place on September 25, 2022 from 1-3PM on the patio at Pretentious Beer Co. 

Quincy Scott Jones is the author of two books of poetry: The T-Bone Series (Whirlwind Press, 2009) and How to Kill Yourself Instead of Your Children (C&R Press, 2021). He’s a Cave Canem fellow and a VONA alum whose work has appeared in the African American Review, The North American Review, the Bellingham Review, Love Jawns: A Mixtape, and The Feminist Wire. With Nina Sharma he co-curates Blackshop, a column that thinks about allyship between BIPOC artists. His graphic narrative, >BlackNerd<, is in the works.

Gale Thompson is the author of Helen or My Hunger (YesYes Books, 2020), Soldier On (Tupelo Press, 2015), and two chapbooks. Her work has appeared in American Poetry Review, Tin House Online, jubilat, and Mississippi Review, among others. A winner of the 2022 Poetry Society of America’s Emily Dickinson Award, Gale has received fellowships from the Vermont Studio Center and Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts. She is co-host of the arts advice podcast Now That We’re Friends. She lives in the mountains of North Georgia, where she directs the Creative Writing program at Young Harris College.

Rowan Young was born and raised in Knoxville, Tennessee. You can find her performing at venues all over the US. Rowan co-founded Tiny Stage Comedy, through which she produces several successful shows. She placed second in the Funniest Comedian in the Heartland competition in 2019, was the 2020 Plano Comedy Festival roast champion, and was named Knoxville’s Finest Comedian by Blank magazine in 2021 and 2022. Rowan has opened for comics like Dusty Slay, Billy Wayne Davis, and Shane Torres.

Ryan Dunaway is a songwriter and multi-instrumentalist out of Knoxville, TN. He plays with various groups in styles ranging from folk and bluegrass to jazz. His songwriting uses elements from these different genres with a longing yet bright acoustic sound.

Our community partner for September is Hindman Settlement School. Hindman Settlement School is a vibrant beacon for progressive learning, community enrichment, and cultural exploration in the central Appalachian region. At Hindman Settlement School, they provide practical courses, programs, and services designed to inspire collaboration and improve the lives of the people in our community. They bring inspirational, life-changing educational services to children with dyslexia and their parents, and they develop and manage community service programs customized to meet our region’s growing demands and challenges. They also promote cultural awareness through arts programs specially designed to build on our area’s rich cultural heritage. Hindman Settlement School was the first rural social settlement school established in America, and they are currently the most successful. Established in 1902 by May Stone and Katherine Pettit in Hindman, Kentucky, their school soon became a model center for education, healthcare, and social services. In fact, they’ve often been called “the best school in the mountains,” and take that honor very seriously by continuing to contribute significantly to regional progress. Hindman Settlement

The school has played a vital role in preserving and promoting the literary and cultural heritage of southeastern Kentucky and Central Appalachia. They believe in their community and their commitment to providing education and service. While their mission has remained the same since Hindman Settlement School was founded over a century ago, their programs are constantly improving and developing to meet the changing needs of our region. At Hindman Settlement School, they believe in honoring the past, improving the present, and planning for the bright and colorful future of Central Appalachia. They know that through proper education, stewardship, and support, the people of our community can help our region thrive.

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The Sundress Academy for the Arts (SAFTA) is a writers residency and arts collective that hosts workshops, retreats, and residencies for writers in all genres including poetry, fiction, nonfiction, journalism, academic writing, playwriting, and more.