Submissions after Monday, November 3, 2025, at 11:59 PM ET will not be accepted.

About the 2026 Derricotte/Eady Chapbook Prize

The Derricotte/Eady Prize, named after Cave Canem co-founders Toi Derricotte and Cornelius Eady, spotlights chapbook-length manuscripts.

Awarded to one poet annually, the Derricotte/Eady Prize recipient receives a monetary prize, the publication of their manuscript through O, Miami Books, a residency at The Writer’s Room at The Betsy Hotel-South Beach, and a featured reading at the O, Miami Festival in April.

Cave Canem is honored to partner with O, Miami to produce the annual Derricotte/Eady Prize in collaboration with The Writer’s Room at The Betsy Hotel-South Beach.

About the Judge

giovanni singleton (1999) earned a BA from American University and an MFA from the New College of California. She is the author of the poetry collections AMERICAN LETTERS: works on paper (2017) and Ascension (2011), which won a California Book Award for Poetry. singleton is founding editor of nocturnes (re)view of the literary arts. Her honors and awards include fellowships from the Squaw Valley Community of Writers, Cave Canem, and the Napa Valley Writers Conference. Her work has been anthologized widely and appeared on the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts building. Coordinator for the Lunch Poems reading series at the University of California–Berkeley, singleton has taught at Saint Mary’s College, Naropa University, and New Mexico State University.

 Application Guidelines

• One manuscript per poet is allowed
• Include a title page with the title only and a table of contents. The author’s name should not appear on any pages within the uploaded document
• The manuscript must be paginated, with a font size of 11 or 12, and 25-30 pages in length, inclusive of the title page and table of contents. A poem may be multiple pages, but no more than one poem per page is permitted
• Manuscripts not adhering to submission guidelines will not be considered
• Include a cover letter with a brief author’s bio and a list of acknowledgments of previously published poems. DO NOT include this information within the document of the manuscript
• Post-submission revisions or corrections are not permitted

Eligibility

All unpublished, original collections of poems written in English by Black poets who are 21 years of age or older. Please note that this is not a first-book award. Cave Canem defines Black poets as any poet who identifies as a member of the African Diaspora.

Please note that in the event that an applicant has submitted the same manuscript to other book awards and received an award, they must disclose this information to Cave Canem.

Exclusions

Current or former students, colleagues, employees, family members, and close friends of the judge; current or former employees and members of the board of Cave Canem Foundation; O, Miami; and authors who have published a book or have a book under contract with O, Miami are ineligible.