VSC Cave Canem Fellowship
The Vermont Studio Center and Cave Canem Foundation are pleased to announce a month-long residency opportunity for Cave Canem fellows. Beginning in 2009, this five-year program will award one fellowship per year at VSC.
The VSC/Cave Canem Fellow will be provided with a private writing studio and comfortable housing, three excellent meals daily, uninterrupted working time and space, and the fellowship of 50+ professional writer and visual artist peers. While in residence, the Fellow will have an opportunity to give a reading, as well as the option of a private manuscript conference with a distinguished VSC Visiting Writer.
The application deadline for this year’s award is June 15, 2009. Eligible poets should go to the “Apply” section of the VSC website at http://vermontstudiocenter.org/apply, download the application, and specify “Cave Canem” on the Special Fellowships line. The application fee is waived for Cave Canem applicants. Candidates must select three preferences for residency dates between September 2009 and July 2010. The winner will be notified by July 15, 2009.
Founded in 1996 by poets Toi Derricotte and Cornelius Eady to remedy the under-representation of African American poets in writing workshops and MFA programs, 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 poet Nikky Finney, Cave Canem has grown from an initial gathering of 26 poets to become an influential movement with a renowned faculty and a high-achieving fellowship of 268 poets residing in 34 states. Its programs include an annual week-long retreat, first and second book prizes, Legacy Conversations, Poets on Craft talks, writing workshops, publications and national readings. Such world-class poets as Elizabeth Alexander, Lucille Clifton, Yusef Komunyakaa, Carl Phillips and Sonia Sanchez number among the organization’s faculty and judges. Cave Canem fellows have over 150 books in print across several genres and have received many prestigious awards—Guggenheim, Lannan Literary, NEA and Stegner Fellowships; the Laughlin Award from the Academy of American Poets; and the Whiting Writers’ Award, among others. To date, the organization has published Gathering Ground: A Reader Celebrating Cave Canem’s First Decade (University of Michigan Press, 2006) and The Ringing Ear: Black Poets Lean South (The University of Georgia Press, 2007). For more information, go to cavecanempoets.org.
