Tom provides the music by James Booker, Professor Longhair Jelly Roll Morton and other black giants of the black and whites
featuring: 
Chris Abani
Robin Coste Lewis
Amber Flora Thomas

 
Each June since 2010, City of Asylum has presented the poets of Cave Canem. The poets and their readings are unique in their appeal to both devoted and casual poetry audiences. These are rousing performances that speak to issues of the day with beauty and excitement. Poets have included future Poet Laureates, National Book Award winners, MacArthur "Genius" award winners, and Pulitzer Prize winners. 

This year's annual reading will continue the tradition, with acclaimed poets  Chris Abani, Robin Coste Lewis, and Amber Flora Thomas!

Chris Abani is the recipient of the 2008 PEN USA Freedom-to-Write Award for his novel Song for Night. Robin Coste Lewis is the author of Voyage of the Sable Venus, winner of the 2015 National Book Award in poetry. Amber Flora Thomas is the recipient of several major poetry awards, including the Dylan Thomas American Poet Prize, Richard Peterson Prize and Ann Stanford Prize.  

Founded by former COA board member Toi Derricotte and Cornelius Eady in 1996 to remedy the under-representation and isolation of African American poets in the literary landscape, the New York-based 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. 

A book signing with the poets will follow the reading.