Knoxville, TN—The Sundress Academy for the Arts is pleased to announce Poet-Tea Community Reading with The Bottom, featuring Joe Tolbert Jr., Jazmin Witherspoon, Felecia Outsey, a.k.a. “Sistah Felecity Luv,” and Asante Knowles. Join us on Saturday, December 9th at Pretentious Beer Co. from 2:00-4:00 PM for Sundress’ special tea blend, a reading, and open mic!
Joe T. is a minister, scholar, writer and cultural organizer whose work is at the intersections of art, culture, spirituality and social justice. He received his B.S. in Communications from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and completed his M.Div. with a concentration in Social Ethics from Union Theological Seminary in the city of New York.
Jazmin Witherspoon is a poet from Saint Louis, MO, though she has spent all her adult life thriving in the mountains of East Tennessee. She received a BS in Communication from the University of Tennessee in 2017. In 2020, she accepted a fellowship with the 5th Woman Poetry Collective. Her poem “Roots of Revolution” was featured in the first issue of Pigeon Parade Quarterly. Jazmin is an MFA candidate in Creative Writing Poetry (‘24). In her free time, Jazmin enjoys reading, singing, and cooking, and she dreams of combining her love of literature and travel into a television show.
Felecia Outsey, a.k.a. “Sistah Felecity Luv,” a native of Birmingham, AL and Graduate of Berea College is a Dancer, Instructor, Cultural Organizer, Community and Youth Advocate, and Artist. As Artistic Director of Divine Urban eXpressions Cultural Arts N Dance Productions, she founded the program in 2007 for talented yet underserved youth and young adults in Knoxville, TN. She aims to spread Faith, Hope, and Love in the community through Poetry and Dance alongside all the youth and young adults she serves. She is Motivated to Overcome Violence through Expression and truly believes that Love is the Answer.
Asante Knowles is a UTK grad student, creative artist, poet, musician, and philosopher. He aims to seek truth, find peace, and spread love through artistry. He’s the author of ebook titled “10 Dimensions of You” which gives a perspective of how looking at the space within can bring us into the space beyond. How your very essence in entangled with the essence of the universe. In the depths of nothing you are there expanding and growing into everything. Come take a look at this perspective to see where you can go beyond where you have ever been
This event is brought to you in part by grants provided by the Witter Bynner Foundation for Poetry and the Tennessee Arts Commission.
