Sundress Academy for the Arts Presents "Humanimal: Between Human Beings and Animals"

The Sundress Academy for the Arts is excited to present “Humanimal: Between Human Beings and Animals,” a workshop led by Si-Min Chong on January 10^th, 2023, from 6:00-7:30 PM. This event will be held over Zoom. Participants can access the event at tiny.utk.edu/sundress (password: safta).

In this online class, we will read works examining the ways animals, trees, mushrooms, the living beings around us make a home (art), gather food (sustenance), and experiment with ways of being and play. The class will begin with a close reading from writers exploring this theme, followed by writing prompts. We will take inspiration from our kin and experiment with methods such as free-writing, phonetic translations of birdsong, writing next to a tree/plant, or a body/glass of water, and more.

In the spirit of conjuring and collaborating with our kin, we will write or make work by way of prose poetry or lyrical prose, sketches, concrete poetry, or simply, marks on a page. This class is open to writers of all genres who are curious about writing alongside other humanimals.

This event is brought to you in part by grants provided by the Witter Bynner Foundation for Poetry and the Tennessee Arts Commission.

A femme of Chinese ancestry with glasses and short black hair standing at a doorway

Si-Min Chong (Min) grew up in the industrial west of Singapore, where the air smells of cacao. She makes work about vessels: women, trees, and snakes. Based in Providence, Rhode Island, she holds an MFA in Literary Arts from Brown University.