Every year, for ten, plus a year, Cave Canem fellows return to their respective cities from the week long summer retreat in Greensburg, Pennslvania, speechless or singing the same ambiguous tune,"It was a life-changing experience." Code Z hopes it is the latter, seeing as how this annual summer poetry retreat serves as a haven for academics and slam poets alike, and we would hate to see an artist robbed of his or her words. Although we rarely delve into the words worth world, communions of artists-literary or imagery are always welcome. Cave Canem, or"beware of the dog"in Italian, guards not only the House of the Tragic Poet in Italy, but also the birth of emerging poets through conversation series, regional workshops, scheduled readings and summer retreats.
The summer retreat, a boot-camp of sort, consisted of a four-a-day regimen for more than 50 writers including new poems due each am, peer-lead workshops, veteran poet workshops and readings by faculty or fellows, of which invariable lasted well into the pm. And in the midst of the sweat and revelry, fellows shared sonnets and synergy with accomplished poets such as founders Toi Derricotte and Cornelius Eady, Erica Hunt, Yusef Komunyakaa, Carl Phillips and Patricia Smith. As freshman fellow, Nicole Sealey noted,"It wasn’t easy, but we [the fellows] did it. And, we did it beautifully, each day knowing that it was an honor to have been invited. I haven’t known many experiences to be, at once, challenging and beautiful…this certainly was."As Sealy noted, the organic exchange between CC fellows, faculty and staff guaranteed development and communion for all involved.
Be sure to check for upcoming Cave Canem programming including a celebratory reading from Duende (Graywolf Press) with Tracy K. Smith at New York University on Thursday, September 24 and Thomas Sayers Ellis’ Race Fearlessness workshops every Wednesday at the Poets House beginning September 12 at the Poet House. Both events are in New York City, visit the website.
