The Sundress Academy for the Arts is excited to present Poetry Xfit hosted by Brendon Blair. This generative workshop event will take place on Sunday, January 19th, from 2 to 4 pm EST via Zoom. Join us at the link tiny.utk.edu/sundress with the password “safta”.
Poetry Xfit isn’t about throwing tires or heavy ropes, but the idea of confusing our muscles is the same. You will receive ideas, guidelines, and more as part of this generative workshop series in order to complete three poems in two hours. A new set of prompts will be provided after the writers have written collaboratively for thirty minutes. The goal is to create material that can be later modified and transformed into artwork rather than producing flawless final versions. The event is open to prose authors as well!
Brendon Blair is an Appalachia-borne writer born and bred on trailer living and warm Mexican cuisine. As a recent dual graduate of Psychology and English, Brendon enjoys intertwining the experiences of queer, waifed and fostered people in poetry and prose. They work as the assistant chapbook editor for Sundress Publications and are passionate about accessible learning. You can find them at pranksterjpg.neocities.org.
This event is brought to you in part by grants provided by the Tennessee Arts Commission.
While this is a free event, donations can be made to the Sundress Academy for the Arts here.
This month, we will be fundraising for our 2025 Light Bill Incubator Microgrant. This grant will award $500, a one-week residency at the Sundress Academy for the Arts in Knoxville, TN, and the potential for digital publication to one Black and/or Indigenous writer with a chapbook in progress to support the completion of said project. The application period closes on April 15th, 2025. Learn more about the Light Bill Incubator Microgrant here.
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