Sundress Academy for the Arts Announces Writing Retreat for Survival and Healing

The Sundress Academy for the Arts is hosting its fourth generative writing retreat celebrating survival and healing on March 22-23, 2024. This two-day retreat for sexual assault survivors will be held in Oak Ridge, TN and will be a safe space for creativity, generative writing exercises, discussions on ways to write trauma, advice on publishing, and more. Come join us in mutual support for a weekend of writing time for healing, safety, and comfort.

The event will be open to writers of all backgrounds and provide an opportunity to work with many talented poets and writers from around the country including Monica Prince, [sarah] Cavar, Najya Williams, Karo Ska, Aly Tadros, Beth Couture, Krista Cox, and Erin Elizabeth Smith.

Session topics include the following:

Labor of Delight
Speculative F(r)iction: Writing Mad, Unruly Trauma-Truths
The Pleasure Principle: Writing Erotic Poetry after Trauma
From Inside the Margins: Using Narrative to Facilitate Intercommunal Healing
Giving Voice to Our Emotions: Writing Through Difficult Feelings

The weekend event runs from 12PM on Friday through 8PM on Saturday and includes group instruction, a reading by workshop leaders, an open mic, writing supplies, and meals. Writers will need to provide their own overnight accommodations.

To apply for the retreat, please send a packet of no more than (8) pages of creative writing in any genre along with a brief statement (no more than 250 words) on why you would like to attend this retreat. Applications are due by January 15^th, 2024.

Apply here!

Thanks to a generous grant from the Academy of American Poets, all fees for selected applicants will be waived. We will require a small, refundable deposit to hold your space. Attendees will be required to show proof of Covid vaccination and a negative Covid test before the retreat.