Cave Canem Foundation

Cave Canem Foundation
Founded1996; 28 years ago (1996)
FounderToi Derricotte and Cornelius Eady
Location
Key people
Lisa Willis (Executive Director);
Dante Micheaux (Director of Programs)
Websitecavecanempoets.org

Cave Canem Foundation is an American 501(c)(3) organization founded in 1996 by poets Toi Derricotte and Cornelius Eady to remedy the underrepresentation and isolation of African-American poets in Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree programs and writing workshops across the United States. It is based in Brooklyn, New York.[1]

Cave Canem programs include an annual summer retreat, regional workshops, first- and second-book poetry prizes, anthology publication and national readings and panels. The organization has also published two anthologies, Gathering Ground: A Reader Celebrating Cave Canem’s First Decade, edited by Derricotte and Eady (University of Michigan Press, 2006), and The Ringing Ear: Black Poets Lean South, edited by Nikky Finney (University of Georgia Press, 2007).

In September 2016, the National Book Foundation awarded Cave Canem the Literarian Award for service to the American literary community.[1]

  1. ^ a b Charles, Ron (September 19, 2016). "National Book Foundation honors group that supports African American poetry". The Washington Post. Retrieved February 7, 2017.