Derricotte/Eady Prize Chapbook Release Reading with Chaun Ballard

Presented in partnership with Cave Canem and The Betsy Hotel.

Our 11th annual book prize reading celebrates the winner of the Derricotte/Eady Chapbook Prize awarded by Cave Canem, the nation’s foremost poetry organization supporting Black poets. This year's winning manuscript is by Chaun Ballard, selected by judge giovanni singleton.

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Chaun Ballard’s chapbook, Flight, was the recipient of the 2018 Sunken Garden Poetry Prize and was published by Tupelo Press, and his full-length collection, Second Nature, received the 23rd annual A. Poulin, Jr. Prize and was published by BOA Editions, Ltd. in 2025. His writing has appeared in Narrative Magazine, Obsidian, Oxford Poetry, Poetry Northwest, The Atlantic, The Journal of the Academy of American Poets, The Missouri Review, The Rumpus, The New York Times Magazine, and other literary magazines. He holds an MFA and a PhD.

giovanni singleton is the author of Ascension, informed by the life and work of Alice Coltrane, which won the California Book Award Gold Medal, the visual art collection AMERICAN LETTERS: works on paper, and a forthcoming dreamography from Noemi Press. Her work has been featured in the Smithsonian's American Jazz Museum, the Jeremy Ingalls Gallery at University of Tucson’s Poetry Center, and GEORGIA, a Denver pop-up art space. Founding editor of nocturnes (re)view of the literary arts, singleton is the recipient of the African American Literature and Culture Society’s Stephen E. Henderson Award for Outstanding Achievement in Poetry.

About Cave Canem

The Derricotte/Eady Chapbook Prize is presented annually by Cave Canem and co-sponsored by O, Miami Poetry Festival and The Writer’s Room at The Betsy Hotel. For more information, visit cavecanempoets.org

About The Betsy-South Beach

Situated at the edge of the Atlantic, The Betsy–South Beach is the host hotel for wide-ranging programs that embrace the richness of global arts and culture.

Since opening in 2012, The Betsy Writer’s Room has hosted more than 1,000 authors, artists, and thought leaders, including notable poets W.S. Merwin, Nikky Finney, and Robert Haas. The Betsy’s poetry programs are inspired by the work of mid-century poet Hyam Plutzik, three-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, and father of Betsy Hotel owner Jonathan Plutzik. For more information, visit www.thebetsywritersroom.com and www.thebetsyhotel.com.

Since opening in 2012, The Betsy Writer’s Room has hosted more than 1,000 authors, artists, and thought leaders, including notable poets W.S. Merwin, Nikky Finney, and Robert Haas. The Betsy’s poetry programs are inspired by the work of mid-century poet Hyam Plutzik, three-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, and father of Betsy Hotel owner Jonathan Plutzik. For more information, visit www.thebetsywritersroom.com and www.thebetsyhotel.com