Summary

The National Book Critics Circle is presenting the Black poetry group "Cave Canem” with the inaugural Toni Morrison Achievement Award, saying “no institution has played such a definitive role in shaping the poetry of the 21st century.” For our CANVAS series, Jeffrey Brown spoke with poet Cornelius Eady, who co-founded the group and continues to shape the landscape of American literature.

Five Facts

• Who is Cornelius Eady and what is his background?


• Why is Eady being honored by the National Book Critics Circle?


• How is poetry "needed" according to Eady?


• What are some of the topics Eady's poetry explores?


• What is Cave Canem, and why did Eady help start it?

Focus Questions

If you were going to write a poem about some aspect of "everyday life" as you experience it now, what would you choose? Media literacy: What do you think Eady means when he say, "Imagination is needed — you need to imagine," after Jeffrey Brown questions the need for poetry and spaces dedicated to poetry?

For More

• Try writing a brief poem capturing the sort of everyday experience you wrote about as an answer to the focus question. • For classrooms looking for a longer activity with a more specific topic, see this lesson on "pandemic poetry" :

 

Poet Jasmine Gardosi was commissioned by the British charity National Literacy Trust to write a poem about the pandemic. So she performed a poem while riding an actual roller coaster. Still from video by Paul Stringer, courtesy of National Literacy Trust

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