The Sundress Academy for the Arts is excited to present “Chronic Poets Society,” a workshop led by Christa Fairbrother on Wednesday, August 14th, 2024, from 6:00 – 7:30 PM EST. This event will be held over Zoom. Participants can access the event at tiny.utk.edu/sundress (password: safta).
How can you find the energy to write about chronic illness while living in a chronic body? How does anyone else manage this, either? Throughout this workshop, participants will look at the poets Camisha Jones, Gwyneth Lewis, and Valerie Witte, whose form and content are vastly different from each other. However, they’re each creating works centered on the body despite their own health challenges.
Then, participants will do a multi-part mindfulness activity to both center yourself and expand your thoughts to add depth to your work. You can reuse the exercise anytime you need to feel better in the moment and as a generative activity to create new work. We’ll share works that spring from this exercise and talk about how to stay connected to your craft even on the worst days.
Christa Fairbrother, MA, is currently the poet laureate of Gulfport, Florida. Her chronic illness-focused poetry has appeared in Knee Brace Press, Medical Literary Messenger, Pleiades, and Réapparition Journal, as well as being nominated for a Pushcart prize. She’s had residencies with the Sundress Academy for the Arts, the Bethany Arts Community, and her chapbook, Chronically Walking, was a finalist for the Kari Ann Flickinger Memorial Prize. During the day she helps people deepen their sense of embodiment through aqua yoga, and her book Water Yoga (Singing Dragon, 2022) won medals from the Nautilus Book Awards and the Florida Writers Association.
While there is no fee to participate in this workshop, those who are able and appreciative may make donations directly to Christa Fairbrother via Venmo: @cfairbro (Phone #: (727) 418-7623) or CashApp: $christa@christafairbrotherwrites.com
