Cave Canem Foundation, Inc.

NEXT WEEK: Join us on November 12 at 7 PM CT for an intimate night of poetry at Brazos Bookstore featuring poets from our Houston Regional Workshop, "Further Invention," and from renowned poet & instructor, Jonathan Moody. Inviting mastery and surprise through the exploration of various writing and revision techniques, including metaphors, personification, and powerful line breaks, these talented poets come together for a final workshop reading. This event is presented in partnership with Brazos Bookstore. If you are unable to join us in person, there will also be a captioned livestream, with ASL interpretation available for both. To RSVP, visit https://lnkd.in/ebCTxfrt Brazos Bookstore November 12, 7-9 PM CT 2421 Bissonnet St Houston, TX 77005

In 1999, the Society of American Archivists (SAA) declared October as American Archives Month. Originating from a grassroots movement, American Archives Month underscores the importance of documenting history and celebrates the work of archivists. To close out the month, the Cave Canem team visited the Beinecke Library at Yale University last week to view the Cave Canem Records. Housed in the James Weldon Johnson Memorial Collection of Negro Arts & Letters Fund, the Cave Canem Records are an overview of our history from 1995-2012. We're excited to continue this partnership with our friends at the Beinecke! Thank you to Jes Neal of Vanguard Archives Consulting for their continued effort in documenting Black history.

Tonight's the night! Join us at 7 PM ET to celebrate the winner of the 2024 Cave Canem Prize, Ajibola Tolase with a reading of his prize-winning work, "2000 Blacks". Featuring readings from Tolase and 2024 Cave Canem Prize Judge Lynne Thompson, the evening will explore poetry as a tool to instigate questions regarding sociological phenomena, migration, and the meaning of home. This program is presented in partnership with The New School Creative Writing Program. In-person & virtual tickets still available: https://lnkd.in/ewuS9UPn Tishman Auditorium October 30, 7-9 PM ET 63 5th Ave New York, NY 10003

NEXT WEEK: Join us on Wednesday, October 30 at 7 PM ET to celebrate the winner of the 2024 Cave Canem Prize, Ajibola Tolase (@jibo_jhybo) with a reading of his prize-winning collection, “2000 Blacks”. Featuring readings from Tolase and 2024 Cave Canem Prize Judge Lynne Thompson (@letpms), the evening will explore poetry as a tool to instigate questions regarding sociological phenomena, migration, and the meaning of home. In-person and virtual RSVPs are still available. If you can’t join us in-person, there will also be a livestream, with ASL interpretation available for both. RSVP Now 🔗 https://lnkd.in/ewuS9UPn This program is presented in partnership with the New School’s Creative Writing Program.

Join Cave Canem at "Hollered into FUNK: Jess' Juke Joint" for a night of poetry, music, and jubilation (in the heart of Harlem!) as we celebrate Tyehimba Jess for his decades-long commitment as a Cave Canem Fellow and as his tenure as Board President of Cave Canem comes to a close. Come dressed in your festive best for a night of blues, poetry, and kinship. Ginny's Supper Club December 5, 2024 7-9 PM ET This event is free with RSVP, and RSVPs are honored on a first-come first-serve basis. RSVP at https://lnkd.in/dDbJxuXt

Today is the day! Join our Dodge Poetry Festival live stream at 11 AM ET for performances from Cave Canem Fellows Taylor Johnson and Charif Shanahan. Register Now: https://lnkd.in/eG8X_7BF

"Dr. Katie Cannon, what I heard you say once haunts every poem that I write. 'Black people,' you said, 'were the only people in the United States, ever explicitly forbidden to become literate." — @nikky finney, in her 2011 National Book Award in Poetry acceptance speech Today, we're excited to celebrate #BlackPoetryDay. Minted in the 1970s, Black Poetry Day honors the birth of Jupiter Hammon, the first published Black poet in the United States (whose work was first published in 1761). While Black poetry being a tool of liberation is more or less our byline, today underscores the role that arts and letters hold in the development of Black history and creativity. Access to the written word was limited, if not severed for many following the dissolution of the Freedmen's Bureau in 1872, and we feel the reverberations of this oppression to this day. Today, we honor our forebears and the contemporary poets and writers who carry our liberation with them daily. As part of our continued commitment to #FundBlackLiterature, we've embarked on a first-of-its-kind field study on the Black literary field. The study, titled Magnitude & Bond is slated for release in early 2025. Findings from this study will be used to address the scarcity and financial precarity that continue to inform our work. To sign up for updates on the project, please visit our website at cavecanempoets.org.

Join Cave Canem Fellow Adedayo Agarau for a weekly gathering to closely read and dissect "2000 Blacks" by Ajibola Tolase, winner of the 2024 Cave Canem Prize. Is poetic inquiry effective in answering questions about sociological phenomena? How has a generation’s emigration from Nigeria shaped the poet’s/speaker’s view of the country’s culture? "2000 Blacks" probes the complexity of economic and politically motivated migration from Africa, which has been referred to as “African Brain Drain.” Link in bio to register now. Virtual November 6, 12, 19, 26 8–9PM ET Register Now 🔗 https://lnkd.in/dDViwV2Y 📸 Cave Canem Fellow Adedayo Agarau at the 2024 Cave Canem Retreat. Photo Credit: Marcus Jackson

Next week: Join us at the 2024 Dodge Poetry Festival as Taylor Johnson and Charif Shanahan, two poets building exceptional bodies of work, share their award-winning poems. Cave Canem is pleased to once again add our Fellows’ voices to the most vibrant poetry festival in the country! Dodge Poetry Festival is a lasting partnership that brings literary greats to Newark, New Jersey to celebrate the social impact of poetry. New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) October 19, 11 AM ET 1 Center Street Newark, NJ 07102 🔗 https://lnkd.in/e7KVAP5u

Join us on November 19 at 7 PM ET for an intimate night of poetry at Bowery Poetry Club featuring poets from our New York City Regional Workshop, "The Forest, The Trees: Writing the Black Pastoral," and acclaimed poet & instructor, Nathan McClain. These talented poets come together for a final workshop reading, exploring what it means to be Black and write poems in which the natural world appears, creating worlds of wonder, curiosity, and attentiveness. This event is presented in partnership with Bowery Poetry Club. If you are unable to join us in person, there will also be a captioned livestream, with ASL interpretation available for both. Bowery Poetry Club November 19, 7-9 PM ET 308 Bowery New York, NY 10012 🔗 https://lnkd.in/g8XskQMb