Cave Canem

10/13/2026

The Cave Canem Digital Exhibitions present curated selections from the Cave Canem Archives, exploring the poets, places, and collections that define Cave Canem and Black literary history. In celebration of National Archives Month, we are proud to launch "Poet in Motion: Selections from the Kurt Boone Papers," a digital exhibition of newly acquired papers of poet and author Kurt Boone.

🔗 To learn more and view the exhibition, visit https://bit.ly/cc-exhibitions-poet-in-motion

📸 Chris Francois for Cave Canem

10/09/2026

Join us next week as we take the stage in Victoria Theater for the 2026 Dodge Poetry Festival! Members of our inaugural 1996 cohort, Major Jackson, Suzanne Jackson, Hayes Davis, and Valerie Jean, will perform engaging poetry readings as we celebrate 30 Years of Cave Canem with host and Fellow, Naomi Extra.

This program is hosted in partnership with the Dodge Poetry Festival. To learn more and purchase tickets, visit https://www.njpac.org/series/dodge-poetry-festival/

Dodge Poetry Festival
New Jersey Performing Arts Center, Victoria Theater
October 17, 2026, 12:30 PM ET
1 Center St
Newark, NJ 07102

10/08/2026

Cave Canem’s Legacy Conversation honors an eminent poet and scholar whose contributions have had a lasting impact on the field of poetry. 50 years after the Soweto Uprising, we are proud to honor South African poet, novelist, activist, and Poet Laureate Mongane Wally Serote.

Join us this evening for an intimate reading of Serote’s work, followed by a conversation with Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and Cave Canem Fellow Tyehimba Jess.

To learn more and register, visit https://bit.ly/26-legacy-wally-serote

10/07/2026

10/06/2026

Applications close today at 11:59 PM ET for our 2027 Fellowship!

Have you submitted your application yet?

Applications are closing soon for the 2027 Cave Canem Fellowship. Accepted first-year Fellows receive an unparalleled opportunity to study with esteemed faculty and join an expansive community of Black poets.⁠

As a Cave Canem Fellow, you receive:⁠ an invitation to the Annual Retreat, a week-long series of intensive poetry workshops, presentations, readings, and creative discourse⁠; exclusive access to the Fellows & Faculty Fund, as well as scholarships to select writing residencies⁠; archival training⁠; inclusion in Cave Canem public programming⁠, and more!⁠
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Applications close October 6 at 11:59 PM ET. Visit https://bit.ly/cc-27-fellowship to learn more and apply.

📸 Tony Turner for Cave Canem

10/04/2026

Join us today at the 2026 Black British Book Festival as we present “The Sound of Black British Poetry.” Raymond Antrobus and Courtney Conrad will open the session with a live reading, followed by an intimate conversation on the state of Black British poetry, moderated by Rommi Smith.

Learn more and purchase tickets to the festival at the link: https://blackbritishbookfestival.com/etn/cave-canem-presents-the-sound-of-black-british-poetry/

10/02/2026

Join us for an engaging reading featuring Jamaican poet, and educator Tanya Shirley as she presents poets from our Kingston, Jamaica Regional Workshop, "Shaping New Poems: Finding a Form to Fit this Place." Poets will share works that use traditional forms to record their collective and unique experiences, and consider the realities of living in Jamaica.

RSVP at the link: https://bit.ly/cc-fl-26-kingston-reading

📷 Photo credit: Awa Mally

09/30/2026

Have you submitted your application yet?

Applications are closing soon for the 2027 Cave Canem Fellowship. Accepted first-year Fellows receive an unparalleled opportunity to study with esteemed faculty and join an expansive community of Black poets.⁠

As a Cave Canem Fellow, you receive:⁠ an invitation to the Annual Retreat, a week-long series of intensive poetry workshops, presentations, readings, and creative discourse⁠; exclusive access to the Fellows & Faculty Fund, as well as scholarships to select writing residencies⁠; archival training⁠; inclusion in Cave Canem public programming⁠, and more!⁠
⁠
Applications close October 6 at 11:59 PM ET. Visit https://bit.ly/cc-27-fellowship to learn more and apply.

📸 Tony Turner for Cave Canem

09/23/2026

Cave Canem’s Legacy Conversation honors an eminent poet and scholar who has made historic contributions to the field of poetry. This year, 50 years after the Soweto Uprising, we are proud to honor South African poet, novelist, activist, and Poet Laureate Mongane Wally Serote.

Mongane Wally Serote is an award-winning writer with numerous books of poetry and fiction, including "Yakhal’inkomo" (1972), "No Baby Must Weep" (1975), "To Every Birth Its Blood" (1981), "Third World Express" (1992), "History Is the Home Address" (2004), and "Revelations" (2011). Serote was a core voice of the Black Consciousness movement in the 1970s, serving as an anti-apartheid activist and writer before spending years in exile as a military operative for the African National Congress.

Join Cave Canem for an intimate reading of Serote’s work, followed by a conversation with Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and Cave Canem Fellow, Tyehimba Jess. To learn more and register, visit https://bit.ly/26-legacy-wally-serote

This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

09/18/2026

Join us at the 2026 edition of the Black British Book Festival as we present “The Sound of Black British Poetry”! Raymond Antrobus and Courtney Conrad will perform a powerful live reading, followed by an intimate conversation on the state of Black British poetry, moderated by Rommi Smith.

Learn more about this and our other upcoming programs at https://cavecanempoets.org/calendar/