The Sundress Academy for the Arts is excited to present “Conjure: Family & Folklore as Inspiration for Creative Writing” a workshop led by Tamara J. Madison on January 12, 2022, from 6-7:30 PM. This event will be held over Zoom. Participants can access the event at tiny.utk.edu/sundress (password: safta).
This workshop will inspire writers (poets, fiction, and non-fiction writers) to use family photos, archives, histories, and even folklore as endless inspiration for new work. Using a series of images, writers will be challenged to examine photographs and explore the characters, landscape and environment of these photographs to dabble in persona writing which may creatively record family, community, cultural history/events and “conjure” new visions. The emphasis of the workshop is brainstorming and exploring through numerous writing prompts and exercises that are later briefly discussed and shared to discover possibilities of further writing and development. Participants will also receive recommendations of other writers who have used such practices. While there is no fee for this workshop, those who are able and appreciative can make direct donations to Tamara via Venmo or PayPal.
Tamara J. Madison is an author, poet, editor, and instructor. Her critical and creative works have been published and recorded in various journals, magazines, anthologies, podcasts, and exhibits including Linden Avenue, Poetry International, Extract, Web del Sol Review of Books, Tidal Basin Review, Black Magnolias, and aaduna. She has also been published in the anthologies, SisterFire (HarperCollins), Temba Tupu (RedSea Press), and Check the Rhyme (LitNoire Press).
She is the author of Collard County (short stories), Kentucky Curdled (poetry), and Sistuh’s Sermon on the Mount (poetry chapbook – Open Hand Press). Her most recent poetry collection Threed, This Road Not Damascus is published by Trio House Press (May 2019) and was short-listed under the title, Breast Poems, in the 2015 Willow Books Literature Award. Threed, … has been reviewed in Poetry International, Cider Press Review, Empty Mirror Review, and Cordella Magazine. Her poetry has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and for Best of the Net.
Tamara is the creator and host of BREAKDOWN: The Poet & The Poems, a conversation series on YouTube to spread awareness of poets and their poetry as inspiration and motivation for everyday life.
Tamara has performed and recorded her work for stage, television, and studio. She enjoys facilitating creative writing workshops for campus and community. She is an MFA graduate of New England College and an Anaphora Arts Writing Residency fellow (2021). She currently lives in Orlando, Florida where she teaches as a professor of English and Creative Writing at Valencia College. For more information, visit www.tamarajmadison.com.
