Brooklyn, NY (24 February 2020)—The Board of Directors of Cave Canem Foundation, Inc., North America’s premier home for Black poetry, is pleased to announce that Malcolm Tariq has been appointed the organization’s next Programs and Communications Manager.

Tariq brings nearly a decade of experience in academic programs and communications, most recently at the Center for Alternative Sentencing and Employment Services and The Friends School of Atlanta. His work as a researcher, teacher, nonprofit communications strategist, and programs administrator is centered on community building and social change. His creative and professional endeavors include a Mellon Public Humanities Fellowship with the National Endowment for the Humanities, a PAGE (Publicly Active Graduate Education) fellowship with Imagining America, and fellowships with the University of Michigan’s Engaged Pedagogy Initiative and it’s Institute for Social Change.

The Board of Directors states: As a Cave Canem fellow and active member of the literary community, Malcolm brings a personal commitment and passion to this position and for the Black poets we serve. We are excited to have him as a vital member of the team as we approach our 25th anniversary in 2021, and look forward to growing the exceptional programming Cave Canem is known for under his leadership.

Reflecting on the work ahead, Tariq said, “I am honored to join Cave Canem as we continue to build on a rich history in serving Black poets through our innovative programs and services. As a Cave Canem fellow and a recipient of the Cave Canem Poetry Prize, I look forward to working with our community to help sustain that legacy, supporting the work and development of fellow poets, and engaging with new and old readers in profound ways.”

Malcolm Tariq is from Savannah, Georgia and is the author of Heed the Hollow (Graywolf Press), selected by Chris Abani as the winner of the 2018 Cave Canem Poetry Prize. He was a 2016-2017 Playwriting Apprentice at the Horizon Theatre Company and has been an arts writer for ArtsATL. Tariq is a graduate of Emory University and holds a PhD in English from the University of Michigan, where he was inducted into the Edward Alexander Bouchet Graduate Honor Society.

Founded in 1996 by poets Toi Derricotte and Cornelius Eady, Cave Canem is a home for the many voices of African American poetry and is committed to cultivating the artistic and professional growth of African American poets. Called “the major watering hole and air pocket for Black poetry” by 2011 National Book Award winner and faculty member Nikky Finney, the organization’s programs include an annual week-long retreat, three book prizes delivered in collaboration with five prestigious presses, community-based writing workshops, Legacy Conversations with distinguished Black poets and scholars, cross-cultural Poets on Craft talks with writers in mid-career, a popular lecture series, a New Works reading series, and a Poets Tour representing 70 fellows. Such pre-eminent poets as Chris Abani, Elizabeth Alexander, Terrance Hayes, Yusef Komunyakaa, Harryette Mullen, Claudia Rankine and Natasha Trethewey number among the organization’s faculty and judges. For more information, visit cavecanempoets.org.

Cave Canem is part of a national coalition of poetry organizations working together to promote the value poets bring to our culture and the important contribution poetry makes in the lives of people of all ages and backgrounds. Learn more about this coalition of poetry organizations.

For further information, please contact Sandra Bowie at [email protected]