Cave Canem Foundation

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) programs and writing workshops across the United States. It is based in Brooklyn, New York.

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, National Book Foundation awarded Cave Canem the Literarian Award for service to the American literary community.