What Cave Canem does

Cave Canem Foundation, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit literary arts organization founded in 1996 by poets Toi Derricotte and Cornelius Eady to address the underrepresentation and isolation of Black poets in the American literary landscape. Headquartered at 65 Bleecker Street in New York City, the organization delivers a tightly integrated program stack: the annual Cave Canem Fellowship retreat at the University of Pittsburgh-Greensburg (free to all fellows), Regional Workshops in New York City and Kingston, Jamaica, three poetry prizes (Cave Canem Prize at $10,000, Derricotte/Eady Chapbook Prize at $1,000, and Angela Jackson Prize at $1,000), public readings, and the Fellows & Faculty Fund grant program. Selected manuscripts are published through rotating partner presses including Graywolf Press, University of Pittsburgh Press, University of Georgia Press, Northwestern University Press, and Black Lawrence Press.

The organization has supported more than 550 Black poets through its fellowships since 1996 and nearly 1,000 poets through regional workshops since 1999, with alumni including Pulitzer Prize winners, a U.S. Poet Laureate, and MacArthur Fellows. Revenue is generated entirely through donations, foundation grants (Ford, Poetry Foundation, Heinz Endowments, Mellon, Lannan, Jerome, Wallace, MacArthur), federal grants (NEA, terminated May 2025), and individual donor programs such as Notebooks & Pens. The organization is governed by a Board of Directors and is led by Executive Director Lisa Willis (since 2020). Notable 2026 milestones include the 30th Anniversary, the National Book Critics' Circle's inaugural Toni Morrison Achievement Award, and a $350,000 MacArthur Foundation grant.

Cave Canem operates as a member of the Getting Word: Black Literature for Liberation collective (formed 2021 with four peer organizations), commissions the Magnitude and Bond field study on Black literary arts organizations (in partnership with Ithaka S+R), and maintains institutional archives at Yale's Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library alongside the 2024-launched Cave Canem Digital Collections platform. Operations rely on a small staff (51-100 reported, with significant volunteer and unpaid labor) and a community-led go-to-market model in which word-of-mouth through alumni and faculty drives fellow applications via the Submittable platform.

Name

Cave Canem

Legal name

Cave Canem Foundation, Inc.

Website

https://cavecanempoets.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1996

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Cave Canem is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 1996 that cultivates Black poets through a free annual fellowship retreat, regional workshops, poetry prizes, and public programming, serving more than 1,500 poets cumulatively across the African diaspora.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Poetry Development Programs

akta.pro primary industry

Indigenous, Ethnic & Folk Arts/Heritage Organizations (BPAGAHAI)

akta.pro secondary industry

Writing Retreats & Intensive Bootcamps (EDAMAMAK)

Keywords

• Poetry fellowship programs
• Poetry writing workshops
• Poetry publication prizes
• Poetry professional development
• Public poetry readings

Headquarters

HQ city

Brooklyn

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Individual Donations: Tax-deductible donations from individuals supporting Black poets and poetry. The organization runs a 'Notebooks & Pens' recurring donor program and an annual Juneteenth fundraiser.
2. Foundation Grants: Grants from foundations including Ford Foundation, Poetry Foundation, Heinz Endowments, Mellon Foundation, Lannan Foundation, Jerome Foundation, Wallace Foundation, and NEA.
3. Federal Government Grants: Federal grants, particularly NEA funding. In 2022, the vast majority of support came from foundations at $1.3 million. Cave Canem experienced NEA grant termination in May 2025.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Cave Canem is a nonprofit literary arts organization dedicated to the artistic and professional development of Black poets in the African Diaspora. It provides a free annual fellowship retreat, no-cost regional workshops, poetry publication prizes, and public readings, with program access coordinated through its website and Submittable.

Product overview

Cave Canem is a nonprofit literary arts organization offering a suite of programs supporting Black poets from the African diaspora. The core offering is the annual Cave Canem Fellowship retreat providing intensive poetry workshops and readings at the University of Pittsburgh-Greensburg, complemented by Regional Workshops in New York City, Kingston Jamaica, and seasonal locations. The organization operates multiple poetry prizes: the Cave Canem Prize (first book, $10,000 + publication), the Derricotte/Eady Chapbook Prize (chapbook, $1,000 + publication), and the Angela Jackson Prize (second book, $1,000 + publication). Public programming includes Readings featuring Legacy Conversations, Prize Readings, and Regional Workshop Readings. Research initiatives include the Magnitude and Bond Field Study on Black literary arts organizations. The Getting Word collective represents collaboration with four other Black literary organizations. Digital preservation is served through the Cave Canem Digital Collections (online) and Foundation Records at Yale's Beinecke Library. Financial support mechanisms include the Fellows & Faculty Fund grants and Notebooks & Pens recurring donor program.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Cave Canem Fellowship Annual fellowship retreat offering intensive poetry workshops and readings at the University of Pittsburgh-Greensburg, with study under renowned faculty and participation in a peer community. Participation is free, and there is no fellowship application fee.
• Regional Workshops No-cost, ten-session poetry workshops limited to 15 participants each, providing rigorous instruction and critique. Workshops are offered in New York City, Kingston, Jamaica, and seasonal U.S. locations.
• Cave Canem Prize Annual first-book prize for a Black poet. The winner receives $10,000, publication through a rotating partner press, 15 book copies, and a featured reading with the judge.
• Derricotte/Eady Chapbook Prize Annual chapbook prize named after co-founders Toi Derricotte and Cornelius Eady. The winner receives $1,000, publication through Black Lawrence Press, 10 chapbook copies, a residency at The Writer's Room at The Betsy Hotel-South Beach, and a featured reading at the O, Miami Festival.
• Angela Jackson Prize Biannual second-book award presented in collaboration with Northwestern University Press. The recipient receives $1,000, publication by Northwestern University Press, 15 book copies, and a featured reading in New York City.
• Readings Public readings and conversations featuring Black poets and poetry scholars, including annual Prize Readings, Legacy Conversations, Regional Workshop Readings, and Off the Chain readings at AWP conferences.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 550 Black poets supported through fellowships since 1996
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration10 records

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Black Lawrence PresscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 July 2026Multi-year publishing partnership for the Derricotte/Eady Chapbook Prize. Winner receives $1,000, publication through Black Lawrence Press, 10 copies, residency at The Writer's Room at The Betsy Hotel-South Beach, and a reading at O, Miami Festival.
• University of Georgia PresscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 March 2026Publishing partner for the Cave Canem Prize, publishing Awuor Ouma's 'Blue Hands, Brown Skin' in Fall 2026. One of three rotating partner publishers for the main prize.
• Graywolf PresscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner publisher for Cave Canem Poetry Prize winner manuscripts. Has published previous winners including Courtney Faye Taylor's 'Concentrate'.
• University of Pittsburgh PresscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner publisher for Cave Canem Prize manuscripts on rotating basis.
• Northwestern University PresscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner publisher for the Angela Jackson Prize (formerly Cave Canem/NAE Poetry Prize), publishing second collections by Black poets.
• O, MiamicoreGTM or Marketing PartnerCo-presenter for Derricotte/Eady Chapbook Prize winner readings at the O, Miami Poetry Festival in April.
• The Writer's Room at The Betsy Hotel-South BeachminorGTM or Marketing PartnerProvides residency at The Writer's Room for Derricotte/Eady Chapbook Prize winners.
• University of Pittsburgh at GreensburgcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHosts the annual Cave Canem retreat since 2003. The retreat provides intensive poetry workshops and readings for fellows.
• Ithaka S+RcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch partnership to conduct 'Magnitude and Bond: A Field Study on Black Literary Arts Organizations' - the first-ever study of its kind on Black literary arts service organizations. Lisa Willis serves as Co-Principal Investigator.
• Getting Word: Black Literature for LiberationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollective of five Black literary organizations (Cave Canem, Furious Flower Poetry Center, Hurston/Wright Foundation, Obsidian, The Watering Hole) formed in 2020 to raise awareness and call for long-term monetary support. Joint annual fundraiser distributes proceeds equally among members.
• August Wilson African American Cultural CenterminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHost venue for 'the total black, being spoken' - a 30 Years of Cave Canem satellite exhibition running June 2026 through June 2027.
• Yale University Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript LibrarycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHouses the Cave Canem Foundation Records within the James Weldon Johnson Collection. Archives include oral histories, manuscripts, poems, videos, photographs, and ephemera.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• The Watering Hole: The Watering Hole is a nonprofit that hosts poetry retreats for Black poets, modeled similarly to Cave Canem and a fellow Getting Word collective member. It directly competes for fellows, faculty, and donor support in the same niche.
• Obsidian: Literature & Arts in the African Diaspora: Obsidian is a Black literary arts organization publishing the Obsidian journal and supporting Black writers; co-member of the Getting Word collective with Cave Canem, sharing the same donor pool, audience, and programmatic structure.
• Hurston/Wright Foundation: The Hurston/Wright Foundation is a literary arts organization serving Black writers across genres, a Getting Word co-member with Cave Canem, offering workshops, awards, and community programming with a closely comparable mission and audience.
• Kundiman: Kundiman is a nonprofit dedicated to nurturing Asian American writers, particularly poets, through retreats, workshops, and community programming. It mirrors Cave Canem's retreat-and-fellowship model for a different ethnic-literary community and competes for the same foundations.
• Bread Loaf Writers' Conference: Bread Loaf is one of the oldest and most prestigious U.S. writers' conferences, hosting intensive workshops in poetry and fiction. It is structurally comparable to Cave Canem's annual retreat model and competes for faculty and donor attention.
• Furious Flower Poetry Center: Furious Flower is a Black poetry center at James Madison University focused on cultivating Black poets; co-member of the Getting Word collective with Cave Canem and offers comparable retreats, prizes, and workshops, making it the most direct peer.
• Squaw Valley Community of Writers: Squaw Valley Community of Writers hosts intensive annual writing workshops and conferences for poets and fiction writers, mirroring Cave Canem's retreat model, although it serves a broader and not explicitly identity-focused cohort.

Emerging players

• Hedgebrook: Hedgebrook is a retreat and residency organization for women writers, with a comparable residency-as-development model to Cave Canem's fellowship retreat. Its mission focus (women rather than Black poets) makes it a partial-overlap peer rather than a direct competitor.

Broad incumbents

• Academy of American Poets: The Academy of American Poets is the largest U.S. poetry nonprofit, running Poets.org, National Poetry Month, and the Poets Prize. It serves a much broader audience than Cave Canem but overlaps in mission and is a parallel recipient of major foundation and individual poetry funding.
• Poetry Foundation: Poetry Foundation is the publisher of Poetry magazine and a major poetry funder that directly supports Cave Canem's Regional Workshops. As an incumbent across the entire poetry ecosystem, it is a comparable organization in scope and funding access.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/cavecanempoets
• Facebookfacebook.com/CaveCanemPoets
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cave-canem-foundation-inc.

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors2 records

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Cave Canem