This fall Cave Canem is excited to bring Regional Workshops to Oakland, California! With support from the Poetry Foundation, Cave Canem continues to expand Regional Workshops to Black poets nationwide.

Cave Canem’s Regional Workshops are tuition-free, free to submit, and led by Cave Canem Fellows.

Check out this season’s workshops in Oakland, California, and, of course, at the Cave Canem headquarters in Brooklyn, New York.

To be considered, please submit a cover letter and five original poems via Submittable.

Regional Workshop (Oakland)

“The World In & Around You” with devorah major
September 5 – October 31, 2023
Tuesdays, 6 p.m. – 9 p.m. (PT) | Public Reading November 7, 2023

Oakstop
1721 Broadway #201, Oakland, California 94612
Visit our Submittable Page to apply today

Submissions are free and open to Black Oakland-area residents.
Applications close August 6, 2023, at 11:59 p.m. (ET)

Born and raised in California, devorah major served as San Francisco’s Third Poet Laureate (2002-2006). She received Italy’s Regina Coppola International Literary Award performing in Sardinia and Northern and Southern Italy. Her sixth book of poetry, with open arms was released in a bilingual edition in Italy. A Willow Press Editor’s Choice, her seventh book of poetry Califia’s Daughter was published by Willow Press. major premiered her poetry play Classic Black: Voices of 19th Century African-Americans in San Francisco, with music composed and performed by Destiny Muhammad, at the San Francisco International Arts Festival. Trade Routes, a commissioned symphony with devorah major’s spoken word and chorus, premiered under Maestro Michael Morgan with the Oakland East Bay Symphony. She is on two CDs as a part of Daughters of Yam with Opal Palmer Adisa. devorah major performs her work nationally and internationally with and without musicians. She has been a participant in international poetry festivals in Italy, Belgium, Bosnia, Jamaica, and Venezuela, and performed her poetry in France, the Bahamas and Germany. http://www.devorahmajor.com. 

Regional Workshops (New York City)

“Let Us Play: Creating Wit and New Forms on the Page” with Bakar Wilson
September 11 – November 6, 2023
Mondays, 6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. (ET) | Public Reading November 13, 2023

Cave Canem Headquarters
20 Jay Street, 310A, Brooklyn, NY 11201
Visit our Submittable to apply today

Submissions are free and open to Black New York City-area residents.
Applications close August 13, 2023, by 11:59 p.m. (ET).

Bakar Wilson has received fellowships from Cave Canem, the Community of Writers, and the Colgate Writers’ Conference. He has performed his work at the Bowery Poetry Club, Poetry Project, The Studio Museum of Harlem, and The Asian-American Writer’s Workshop among others. His poetry has appeared in The Vanderbilt Review, The Lumberyard Radio Magazine, The Brooklyn Rail, Flicker and Spark: A Contemporary Queer Anthology, and The Ostrich Review among others. Bakar curated and hosted an hour of poetry at the Whitney Biennial for their poetry marathon in collaboration with A Gathering of the Tribes and received a commission from the Metropolitan Museum of Art for Juneteenth. A native of Memphis, Tennessee, Bakar received his B.A. in English from Vanderbilt University and his M.A. in Creative Writing from The City College of New York. He is an Adjunct Lecturer of English and Creative Writing at Borough of Manhattan Community College at CUNY.

These programs are supported by the Poetry Foundation.