An Evening With Cave Canem

Sapphire (left) and Pitt English professor Toi Derricotte, both award-winning poets and authors, were among the guests at a June 24 private reception on the North Side prior to a free public reading by Cave Canem poets. The public reading was held beneath a tent on Monterey Street and presenters included Cave Canem faculty members as well as Sapphire, author of the best-selling novel Push, which was made into the Academy Award-winning movie Precious. The event was hosted by the City of Asylum/Pittsburgh, an organization that provides refuge to exiled foreign writers. Cave Canem, a nationwide fellowship that cultivates the artistic and professional growth of African American poets, was established in 1996 by Derricotte and poet Cornelius Eady.