"Since Cave Canem was established in 1996, its model of mentorship and fellowship has inspired a host of other organizations dedicated to the development of poets of color."
In June 2021, we celebrate the 25th anniversary of the literary organization Cave Canem which was established to educate, promote, and support Black poets. I’ve shared the work of just a few during this month’s podcasts, however, the list of poets—both Fellows and Faculty—and their recent books merits further mention and I’m happy to provide a partial list to get readers started—and to remind them to discover other collections on their own!
- Cameron Awkward-Rich, Dispatch: Poems
- Joshua Bennett, Owed
- Reginald Dwayne Betts, Felon
- Tommye Blount, Fantasia for the Man in Blue
- CM Burroughs, Master Suffering
- Cortney Lamar Charleston, Doppelgangbanger
- Adrienne Christian, Worn
- Toi Derricote, New and Selected Poems
- Safia Elhillo, Home Is Not A Country
- Camonghne Felix, Build Yourself a Boat
- Nikky Finney, Love Child’s Hotbed of Occasional Poetry
- Erica Hunt, Jump the Clock: New & Selected Poems
- Major Jackson, The Absurd Man
- Jacqueline Jones-Lamon, What Water Knows
- Douglas Kearney, Sho
- Indigo Moor, Everybody’s Jonesin’ for Something
- John Murillo, Kontemporary American Poetry
- Sonia Sanchez, Collected Poems
- Natasha Trethewey, Monument: New & Selected Poems
- Arisa White, Who’s Your Daddy?
- Keith S. Wilson, Fieldnotes on Ordinary Love
and the collections I’m excited about that are being published later in 2021:
- Yusef Komunyakaa, Everyday Mojo Song of Earth, New and Selected Poems
- Adrian Matejka, Somebody Else Sold the World
- Phillip B. Williams, Mutiny