Sundress Academy for the Arts Presents "And yet... There's still joy: Joy as an Act of Resistance in Poetry"

The Sundress Academy for the Arts is excited to present “And yet … There’s still Joy: Joy as an Act of Resistance in Poetry,” a workshop led by Barbara Fant on April 10^th, 2024, from 6:00-7:30PM ET. This event will be held over Zoom. Participants can access the event at tiny.utk.edu/sundress (password: safta).

Throughout this workshop, participants will learn how other poets over time have experienced and explored joy in their writing. We will read and listen to poems and discuss how joy shows up in poetry, from the small joys in everyday life to healing through trauma. We will specifically explore the work of Toi Derricotte, her usage of “joy as an act of resistance,” and how we can use our writing to explore and experience more deeply the small moments of joy in our daily lives.

We will also explore how to lean into writing when healing through pain, trauma, and grief, and ultimately, finding joy in the midst of it all. Participants will experience the poetry of contemporary poets, receive writing prompts, be offered time and space to write, and then receive the invitation to share with others.

Barbara Fant is the author of two poetry collections, Paint, Inside Out (2010) and Mouths of Garden (2022). Her work has been featured in the Academy of American Poets, Electric Literature, McNeese Review, The Ohio State University Press, Button Poetry, and Def Poetry Jam, amongst others. She has received residencies in Havana, Cuba and Senegal, West Africa. She has competed in nine National Poetry Slams and placed 8^th out of 96 poets in the 2017 Women of the World Poetry Slam. She is a certified Healing Centered Engagement specialist and holds an MFA in Poetry and a Master of Theology.

While there is no fee to participate in this workshop, those who are able and appreciate may make donations directly to Barbara Fant via Venmo, PayPal, or Cash App. Her Venmo is @Barbara-Fant-1, PayPal is barbfant127@gmail.com, and CashApp is $Bloom127.

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