Sundress Academy for the Arts Presents November Poetry Xfit

The Sundress Academy for the Arts is excited to present Poetry Xfit hosted by Shelby Hansen. This generative workshop event will take place on Sunday, November 29th, from 2 to 4 pm EST via Zoom. Join us at tiny.utk.edu/poetryxfit.

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!

The theme for November’s Poetry Xfit is Experiment. For this month’s Xfit, Think about unexpected ways to work with white space, diction, shape, and language. Consider abandoning your comfort zones and experimenting with different ideas and forms—or lack thereof!

Shelby Hansen is a creative writer and self-proclaimed fantasy maestro hailing from the northern plains of Texas. She recently graduated from the University of Tennessee’s English program with a focus in Literature and Creative Writing, where she won several awards for her fiction. Her writing often focuses on womanhood, identity, and the reclamation of the self through a speculative lens. This is reflected in her debut novel, which she hopes to publish soon. When she is not writing or teaching today’s youth, she enjoys reading, crocheting, swimming, and spending time with her two cats, Stella and Gemma.

This event is brought to you in part by a grant provided by the Tennessee Arts Commission.

While this is a free event, donations can be made to the Sundress Academy for the Arts here.

We are excited to announce the launch of a new fundraising campaign centered on a simple idea: writers helping writers. Donors who make a gift of $100 or more to Sundress Publications can receive a poetry manuscript consultation as a thank-you for supporting our work. Learn more here on our website.