006 – Checking Out Cave Canem

“Whenver the Devil is Disguised At Night, He’s Called Santa Clause…”

We’re checking out Cave Canem in celebration of its 25th anniversary!! With performances by the poets Nikki Giovanni, Colleen McElroy, Amiri Baraka, Angela Jackson, Toi Derricotte, and Tim Seibles. 

Founded by Toi Derricotte and Cornelius Eady in 1996 to remedy the under-representation and isolation of African American poets in the literary landscape, Cave Canem Foundation 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.

Cave Canem has grown from a gathering of 26 poets to become an influential movement with a renowned faculty, high-achieving national fellowship of over 400 and a workshop community of 900. Cave Canem enjoys over 20 local, regional and national cultural partnerships, among them City of Asylum.

We’re featuring several amazing (and exclusive) performances from City of Asylum’s Cave Canem archive—Nikki Giovanni, Colleen McElroy, Amiri Baraka, Angela Jackson, Toi Derricotte, and Tim Seibles. Check out cityofasylum.org for more information on Cave Canem’s anniversary show or our show notes at charlacultural.com for more information.

We’ll also get into cultural spaces, the importance of intimacy, what we’re reading, and some thoughts for the road!

A quick summary of what to expect…

• Intro/Welcome
• Checking out Cave Canem
• Invoking the muse: Nikki Giovanni reads “Ego Trippin”
• Karla and Adriana chat about the importance of a good crowd
• Colleen McElroy: “R & R” & “Fairytales” & “body politic”
• Amiri Baraka: “Low Coup” series
• Angela Jackson: “Choosing the Blues” & “Man w the White Liver”
• Toi Derricotte: “untitled” & “Love story in B&W” & “Black Bottom”
• Tim Seibles: “Born” & “The Taste me Blues” & “A Funky Blues”
• Karla & Adriana talk (not enough) about intimacy and performance
• What Are We Reading?
• Remedios for the Road
• Goodbye and outro

Episode Links

• Brian Broome’s Punch Me Up to the Gods
• Posada: Offerings of Witness and Refuge by Xochitl-Julisa Bermejo
• the poetry of Anaïs Duplan
• Letters to a Young Poet

How to Listen

You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on Google Podcasts, on Spotify, on Apple Podcasts, on your favorite podcast app, or via the RSS feed at https://anchor.fm/s/51c8d038/podcast/rss.

Many thanks to Luis Alfonso for the music in this episode. Image credit to City of Asylum.

Thanks for listening!