Cave Canem

08/19/2026

Cave Canem is delighted to welcome writer, playwright, organizer, and educator Mahogany L. Browne as the facilitator of our New York Regional Workshop, "Do Not Make Grief Your God".

This poetry workshop aims to lead participants through a poetic exploration influenced by both grief and love, while also responsive to political themes and the nuances of sound. The objective is to craft a piece shaped by form, breath, and the fundamental laws of nature. By integrating these elements, poets will seek to expand their understanding of poetry creation. Throughout the workshop, participants will gain insights into using poetic forms effectively while maintaining the authenticity and strength of their unique voice.

Workshops are tuition-free and free to apply. Applications for the NYC workshop close on Thursday, September 3, at 11:59 PM ET. Visit https://bit.ly/cc-fl-26-nyc to learn more and apply.

08/14/2026

Cave Canem and Northwestern University Press are delighted to announce Michal ‘MJ’ Jones as the 2026 recipient of the newly named Angela Jackson Prize! Their collection, "of blue & bone," is a thoughtful construction that reckons with the real-life horrors of the Hart family murder-suicide.

The Angela Jackson Prize, renamed in 2025 to honor Jackson’s innumerable contributions to poetry and Black literary communities, has been a significant collaboration between Cave Canem and Northwestern University Press since 2009. The prize is awarded to an exceptional second collection by a Black poet from the African diaspora, and is offered every other year to celebrate and publish works of lasting cultural value and literary excellence.

Jones's collection was selected by namesake Prize Judge, Angela Jackson. They are set to receive $1,000, publication by Northwestern University Press, and a reading during AWP 2027 in Chicago. To read more, visit cavecanempoets.org 🔗

Photo courtesy of Michal 'MJ' Jones

08/12/2026

For Fall 2026, Cave Canem is thrilled to welcome poet and educator Tanya Shirley as the facilitator of our first-ever international Regional Workshop, "Shaping New Poems: Finding a Form to Fit This Place," in Kingston, Jamaica, hosted in collaboration with 10A Kingston.

This workshop will encourage intermediate-advanced stage poets to think about ways to write about the reality of living in Jamaica. Through a combination of lectures, prompts, close readings, and peer critique, poets will focus on how traditional forms can be used as a base for capturing their unique individual and collective experiences and elevating their poems from mere description or abstraction.

Workshops are tuition-free and free to apply. Applications for the workshop in Kingston, Jamaica close on Monday, September 7, at 11:59 PM ET. Visit https://bit.ly/cc-fl-26-kingston to learn more and apply.

08/06/2026

Cave Canem is excited to welcome Mahogany L. Browne and Tanya Shirley as our facilitators for our Fall 2026 Regional Workshops, hosted in New York City and Kingston, Jamaica!

For NYC, Mahogany L. Browne will lead "Do Not Make Grief Your God," a poetry workshop that aims to lead you through a poetic exploration influenced by both grief and love, while also responsive to political themes and the nuances of sound.

For Kingston, Tanya Shirley will lead our first international Regional Workshop, "Shaping New Poems: Finding a Form to Fit This Place," a poetry workshop that will encourage intermediate-advanced stage poets to think about ways to write about the reality of living in Jamaica.

Workshops are tuition-free and free to apply. Applications for these workshops close for NYC on September 3, and Jamaica on September 7, at 11:59 PM ET. Visit https://cavecanempoets.org/programs/ -workshops to learn more and apply.

Image: Douglas Kearney and attendees at the Fall 2025 Regional Workshop in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Photo by Awa Mally for Cave Canem.

07/16/2026

In the first half of 2026, we celebrated the life and work of Reginald Shepherd; hosted workshops in NYC, Camden, and Ithaca; spent a week in literary community in Baltimore for ; launched our 2026 Getting Word Campaign; opened “Black In Time: 30 Years of Cave Canem” at the August Wilson African American Cultural Center; deployed our Black Poet Census; and welcomed 150 Fellows and Faculty to UPitt-Greensburg for our 30th Anniversary Retreat and Reunion. We’re honored to share the wonderful gift of poetry with you all, but sometimes you need to hit snooze and recenter.

Rest is a central tenet of our mission and the key to upholding the sustainability of our organization. With that in mind, our office will be closed for the month of July and will re-open on August 3. Our staff will be on email and social in a very limited capacity, so we appreciate your patience and flexibility as we pause for the month. While we’re off in sabbatical land, make sure to submit to the 2027 and 2028 Derricotte/Eady Prize. Thank you for all of your support, and we look forward to sharing space with you soon 🖤

📷: Glimpse into the 2026 Opening Circle at the 30th Anniversary Retreat and Reunion. Photo by Tony Turner for Cave Canem.

07/15/2026

Cave Canem and Black Lawrence Press are proud to announce our new multi-year partnership for the Derricotte/Eady Chapbook Prize!

The Derricotte/Eady Prize, named after Cave Canem co-founders Toi Derricotte and Cornelius Eady, spotlights chapbook-length manuscripts by Black poets across the diaspora. To establish a new prize and publication timeline, submissions for the 2027 and 2028 Derricotte/Eady Prize will run concurrently now through August 7, 2026. Tommye Blount will serve as the 2027 Prize Judge, and Jonterri Gadson will serve as the 2028 Prize Judge.

The Winners of the 2027 and 2028 Derricotte/Eady Prize will receive:
• A $1,000 monetary prize
• Publication of their manuscript through Black Lawrence Press
• 10 copies of their chapbook
• A residency at The Writer's Room at The Betsy Hotel-South Beach
• A reading during the O, Miami Festival

To read the full release, visit https://cavecanempoets.org/news/. For more information on the Derricotte/Eady Prize, visit https://cavecanempoets.org/programs/ .

07/09/2026

Do you identify as a Black poet? Our survey deadline has been extended through July 15!

Last year, Cave Canem released its first research project, “Magnitude and Bond: A Field Study on the State of Black Literary Arts Organizations”. From that work, we gained valuable insight into the lack of funding for Black literary arts organizations that support Black writers. There is much to learn from the community of African Diasporic poets at large, and from the communities within that community, which overlap and network with each other.

To document these networks, Cave Canem, in collaboration with Slover Linett at NORC and with support from the Poetry Foundation, is conducting a Black Poet census that surveys the Black poetic community at large. The answers you provide will be digested in a public report, "'deep like the rivers…': a Report on Black Poets," and later a digital mapping tool, to be published in 2027. The report takes its name from the Langston Hughes poem, “The Negro Speaks of Rivers.”

Visit https://bit.ly/2026-black-poet-census to learn more and participate.

06/30/2026

Do you identify as a Black poet?

Cave Canem, in collaboration with Slover Linett at NORC and with support from the Poetry Foundation, is developing a Black Poet census to survey the community at large. The responses will be compiled into a public report, "'deep like the rivers…': a Report on Black Poets," and later a digital mapping tool, to be published in 2027. The report takes its name from the Langston Hughes poem, "The Negro Speaks of Rivers."

The survey is open now through July 8th. Visit https://bit.ly/2026-black-poet-census to learn more and participate.

06/11/2026

This Sunday, June 14, we'll welcome our cohort of third-year fellows to kick off our 2026 Retreat & Reunion, commemorating 30 years of Cave Canem. Throughout the week, we'll have an exciting slate of public programming available to attend both in person and virtually.

On Monday, June 15, at 7 PM, join us at the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg for our 30th Anniversary Retreat Faculty Reading, featuring A. Van Jordan, Duriel E. Harris, Harryette Mullen, and Remica Bingham-Risher.

On Tuesday, June 18, at 6 PM, join us at the August Wilson African American Cultural Center for the opening of our satellite exhibition, "Black In Time: 30 Years of Cave Canem," followed by a reading and lecture featuring Matthew Shenoda, Rita Dove, Cornelius Eady, and Toi Derricotte.

We hope you'll join us! Visit https://bit.ly/cc-30th-retreat-reunion to register 🔗

05/22/2026

Join us in-person on Tuesday, May 26, for a restorative reading featuring poet and educator Brian Francis as he presents poets from our New York Regional Workshop, "Digging in the Crates: Creating Space for Revelry and Repair."

Poets will share works across genres that consider how realities of personal challenge and injustice enter their interior lives and can ultimately reflect beauty and gratitude around and within their artistic practice. Centering care and curiosity, these poets will create room for risk, invention, revelry, repair, and for poems that bend memory and narrative toward possibility.

RSVP at https://bit.ly/cc-digging-in-the-crates

📷 J Dilla and Madlib crate digging in Brazil, 2005. Image courtesy of B+

Join poet and educator Brian Francis as he presents poets from our New York Regional Workshop, "Digging in the Crates."