Cave Canem’s week-long retreat will be held at the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg, Pennsylvania, June 10 – June 16, 2018. This year’s world-class faculty includes poets Chris Abani, Cornelius Eady, Evie Shockley, Amber Flora Thomas, with visiting poet Robin Coste Lewis.

The Cave Canem Retreat offers an unparalleled opportunity to study with established poets and join a community of peers. Some fellows hail from the spoken word tradition, others focus on the text. Some are formalists, others work at the cutting edge of experimentation. All are united by a common purpose to improve their craft and find productive space “where black poets, individually and collectively, can inspire and be inspired by others, relieved of any obligation to explain or defend their blackness (Harryette Mullen).”

Black poets of African descent, ages 21 and over, are eligible to apply. Once accepted, poets become “fellows.” Most are invited to attend two additional retreats within a five-year period. To learn more, visit our Retreat page. Applications are open via Submittable until December, 22, 2017 at 11:59 PM.