Sundress Academy for the Arts Presents October Poetry Xfit

The Sundress Academy for the Arts is excited to present Poetry Xfit hosted by Sydney Peay. This generative workshop event will take place on Sunday, October 16th from 2 to 4 pm EST via Zoom. Join us at the link tiny.utk.edu/sundress with password “safta”.

Poetry Xfit isn’t about throwing tires or heavy ropes, but the idea of confusing our muscles is the same. This generative workshop series will give you prompts, rules, obstructions, and more to write three poems in two hours. Writers will write together for thirty minutes, be invited to share new work, and then given a new set of prompts. The idea isn’t that we are writing perfect final drafts, but instead creating clay that can then be edited and turned into art later. Prose writers are also welcome to attend!

Sydney Peay is a queer disabled creator living in Knoxville, Tennessee, where they recently completed their bachelor’s degree in sociology and English literature. They are interested in the relationship between art, history, and power, as well as innovative methods of communicating information. In their free time, they like playing Stardew Valley and overanalyzing Taylor Swift lyrics.

While this is a free event, donations can be made to the Sundress Academy for the Arts here: https://sundress-publications.square.site/product/donate-to-sundress/107?cs=true

Each month we split any Xfit donations with our community partner. This month our community partner for October is First Aid Collective Knox. First Aid Collective Knox is an autonomous first-aid/wound care collective crew based in Knoxville, TN. In coordination with other mutual aid groups in Knoxville, they distribute food, water, clothing, baby supplies, emergency contraception, and other vital resources throughout the community. One of their current efforts is rebuilding Mutual Aid Space Knoxville, the community space that was home to First Aid Collective Knox, East Tennessee Harm Reduction, and Knoxville Radical Library which was destroyed in the storms and flooding of July 2022 that wreaked havoc throughout Appalachia.

To donate to the flood rebuilding GoFundMe, please check out https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-mutual-aid-space-recover-from-flood