Cave Canem at AWP Portland

This past March, Cave Canem joined hundreds of literary institutions and thousands of writers for the AWP conference in Portland, Oregon. Cave Canem’s first stop on March 27 was at Literary Arts, where we hosted our Fellows Off-Site Reading. Emceed by graduate fellow Samiya Bashir, the program attracted nearly 100 attendees and featured 15 fellows, who each read original work in rapid-fire intervals. One audience member said that the reading “took my breath away…”
On March 28th, Cave Canem’s AWP event featured Dawn Lundy Martin, Morgan Parker and Evie Shockley for a reading, followed by a conversation with poet Fatimah Asghar. Of the event, which drew an audience of more than 270, one attendee noted, “the entire program felt loving and inviting.”
Throughout the conference, Cave Canem’s book fair booth was lively—attendees perused Cave Canem prize-winning titles and connected with fellows and staff!
Enjoy highlights from AWP 2019 below!
- Fellow JP Howard reads at the Cave Canem Fellows Off-Site Reading at Literary Arts. Photo Credit: Marcus Jackson
- Cave Canem fellow Samiya Bashir emcees the Fellows Off-Site Reading. Photo Credit: Marcus Jackson
- Fellow Anastacia-Renee shares at the Off-Site Reading.
- Fellow Morgan Parker gestures during her reading at Cave Canem’s AWP event. Photo Credit: Marcus Jackson
- Fellow Dawn Lundy Martin reads from her most recent poetry collection, Good Stock, Strange Blood during Cave Canem’s AWP reading. Photo Credit: Marcus Jackson
- Moderator Fatimah Asghar (left) facilitates a conversation between acclaimed poets and Cave Canem fellows Morgan Parker (second from the left), Dawn Lundy Martin (middle) and Evie Shockley (right).
- Fellow and 2018 Pulitzer Prize finalist, Evie Shockley, during the conversation with Fatimah Asghar. Photo Credit: Marcus Jackson
- (Left to right) Dawn Lundy Martin, Morgan Larker and Evie Shockley sign books and converse with audience members after the Cave Canem reading and conversation.
- Cave Canem fellow Brionne Janae works the Cave Canem booth at the AWP book fair and strikes a pose with her debut collection After Jubilee.
- A silly moment with fellow Dustin Pearson captured on camera during his time working the Cave Canem booth.
Black and white photos by Cave Canem fellow and photographer Marcus Jackson.