Every once in a while, a book comes along that changes everything for you, that throws open the door of possibility, breaks off the hinges, and demolishes the doorframe altogether, leaving a gaping ho...

The Sundress Academy for the Arts is excited to present Poetry Xfit hosted by Bleah Patterson. This generative workshop event will take place on Sunday, February 22nd, 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 … Continue reading Sundress Academy for the Arts Presents February Poetry Xfit →

The Sundress Academy for the Arts is excited to present “Love Hurts: Writing the Break-up Poem,” a workshop led by Amie Whittemore  on Wednesday, February 11th from 6:00-7:30 PM EST. This event will b...

This selection, chosen by Guest Editor Romy Ewing, is from Self-Talk by Esinam Bediako (Porkbelly Press 2025). Content Warning: racism or racialized violence Offering For mercy, I lay at your feet all I own:rocks and stones and bricks I collectedas a child who liked the idea of collections;my summer of permed hair when my motherfinally … Continue reading The Wardrobe’s Best Dressed: Self-Talk by Esinam Bediako →

Brittany Micka-Foos’s debut short story collection, It’s No Fun Anymore (Apprentice House Press, 2025), is a necessary culmination of raw characters and stories that stare directly into the face of wo...

Despite being a voracious reader as a child, I cannot pinpoint the exact moment in my teenage years when I began to view reading as a chore rather than a delight. My memories from my earlier years are...

A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf was one of the first books I read that I physically could not put down. I felt like an archeologist that had just discovered something completely new. Here I was,...

This selection, chosen by Guest Editor Romy Ewing, is from Self-Talk by Esinam Bediako (Porkbelly Press 2025). Content Warning: racism or racialized violence Body/Mind Braid In elementary school, some...

Blind to the Prairie (Bottlecap Press, 2025) by Tate Lewis-Carroll is a slow and tender reflection on seeing. In this collection of haiku, Lewis-Carroll captures the rhythms of the Midwestern landscap...

This selection, chosen by Guest Editor Romy Ewing, is from FLOWN by B. Fulton Jennes (Porkbelly Press 2024). What’s an Atheist? I Ask My Dying Sister, 1965 A Christmas Eve visitto a widow’s home. She’...

This selection, chosen by Guest Editor Romy Ewing, is from Mapping the Borderlands by Barbara Sabol (Sheila-Na-Gig Editions 2025). Letting the Kneeler Down Forgive me the absence of all feeling. My he...

This selection, chosen by Guest Editor Romy Ewing, is from Palm Up, Fingers Curled by Abby Lewis (Plan B Press, 2023). Content Warning: sexual violence                  Snippets—I Can’t “Sometimes I c...

This selection, chosen by Guest Editor Romy Ewing, is from Palm Up, Fingers Curled by Abby Lewis (Plan B Press, 2023).                                     In the Beginning Talking and driving down                 Sevierville back roads          late at night, we did not see the wayward              limb, heavily adorned with leaves,                                      until it was almost upon us. You swerved,                rescuing us last-minute,   and we sat in stunned                                        silence— … Continue reading The Wardrobe’s Best Dressed: Palm Up, Fingers Curled by Abby Lewis →

Child of Light by Jesi Bender (Whisk(e)y Tit, 2025) is a complex and gripping story that explores identity, language, and family dynamics as Ambrétte Memenon journeys through discovering who she is and her supposed role in her family and society. To connect with her family members, Ambrétte learns the language of their interests, including Spiritualism … Continue reading Sundress Reads: Review of Child of Light →

This week, Managing Editor Merrick Sloane shares a new selection from each of their 8 favorite books featured on The Wardrobe’s Best Dressed in 2025. Merrick’s final selection for the best of 2025 is from Mud in Our Mouths by Luiza Flynn-Goodlett (Northwestern University Press, 2025). Content Warning: suicide Stay Wanting to die isn’t the … Continue reading The Wardrobe’s Best Dressed: The Best Best Dressed of 2025 →

The Sundress Academy for the Arts is excited to present “REVOLT!: Past as Prologue,” a workshop led by Henry Hicks IV on Wednesday, January 14th 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). “REVOLT!: Past as Prologue” will be a generative workshop for … Continue reading Sundress Academy for the Arts Presents REVOLT!: Past as Prologue →

The Sundress Academy for the Arts is excited to present Poetry Xfit hosted by Alexa White. This generative workshop event will take place on Sunday, January 25th, 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 … Continue reading Sundress Academy for the Arts Presents January Poetry Xfit →

Moon Meridian Novella Award Winner, M.S. Gardner’s Wolf’s Bane (April Gloaming, 2025) toes the line between renowned fable and grotesque reality in a captivating account of one woman’s past, the secrets she holds, and those she uncovers. Gardner spellbinds readers with clever nuances, haunting imagery, and the unspooling of mystery’s threads in an estate in … Continue reading Sundress Reads: Review of Wolf’s Bane →

Patrick Joseph Caoile, a Filipino American writer, spoke with Sundress intern Penny Wei about his latest collection Tales from Manila Ave. Caoile's work is featured in storySouth, the anthology Growing Up Filipino 3, and elsewhere.

This week, Managing Editor Merrick Sloane shares a new selection from each of their 8 favorite books featured on The Wardrobe’s Best Dressed in 2025. Merrick’s next selection for the best of 2025 is from FishWife by Alysse McCanna (Black Lawrence Press, 2024). Content Warning: sexual violence Kissing Angelina              from Belfast She whispers bastard in … Continue reading The Wardrobe’s Best Dressed: The Best Best Dressed of 2025 →

I fell in love with poetry in elementary school. I attended a progressive school called Children’s Community School, where I was encouraged to choose books that genuinely interested me for homework, rather than the teachers assigning books. This freedom allowed me to connect with literature on a personal level from a very young age—something I … Continue reading Meet Our Intern: Emma Goss →

This week, Managing Editor Merrick Sloane shares a new selection from each of their 8 favorite books featured on The Wardrobe’s Best Dressed in 2025. Merrick’s next selection for the best of 2025 is from Love Letters from a Burning Planet by MJ Gomez (Variant Lit, 2023). Angel There he was: grief-eyed lightningstruck                                             with tenderness.                Coughing up … Continue reading The Wardrobe’s Best Dressed: The Best Best Dressed of 2025 →

This week, Managing Editor Merrick Sloane shares a new selection from each of their 8 favorite books featured on The Wardrobe’s Best Dressed in 2025. Merrick’s initial selection for the best of 2025 is from Accidental Garden by Catherine Esposito Prescott (Gunpowder Press, 2023). Stories A cicatrix of scar tissue, a necklace of missing lymph … Continue reading The Wardrobe’s Best Dressed: The Best Best Dressed of 2025 →

This selection, chosen by guest editor Merrick Sloane, is from A Hard Silence: One daughter remaps family, grief, and faith when HIV/AIDS changes it all by Melanie Brooks (Vine Leaves Press, 2023).                                  How It Could Have                                      Been Different    “You  know what  I keep coming back to?”  Dr. B  said,  uncrossing hislegs  and  repositioning himself in … Continue reading The Wardrobe’s Best Dressed: A Hard Silence: One daughter remaps family, grief, and faith when HIV/AIDS changes it all by Melanie Brooks →

This selection, chosen by guest editor Merrick Sloane, is from A Hard Silence: One daughter remaps family, grief, and faith when HIV/AIDS changes it all by Melanie Brooks (Vine Leaves Press, 2023).                                          Prologue A  little  over  a  year  before    his  own,   my   father  attends  a   funeral.It’s  Saturday,  September   17,  1994.  Somewhere  inside the  expansiveCathedral  Church  … Continue reading The Wardrobe’s Best Dressed: A Hard Silence: One daughter remaps family, grief, and faith when HIV/AIDS changes it all by Melanie Brooks →