Meet Our Grantee-Partner: CavanKerry Press
CavanKerry Press is a nonprofit literary press committed to expanding the reach of well-crafted poetry and literature by publishing works that explore the emotional and psychological landscapes of everyday life.
CavanKerry Press author Nadia Alexis with fellow presenters after a reading and discussion of her book, Beyond the Watershed, at the Oxford MS Public Library. Photo courtesy of CavanKerry Press.
Mission: CavanKerry Press is committed to expanding the reach of poetry and other fine literature to a general readership by publishing works that explore the emotional and psychological landscapes of everyday life, and bringing that art to the underserved where they live, work and receive services.
Psychologist and poet Joan Cusack Handler found that reading and writing poetry helped her patients heal. Her work inspired her to establish CavanKerry Press (CKP) in 2000. Operating out of Fort Lee, New Jersey, CKP is a nonprofit literary press committed to expanding the reach of well-crafted poetry and literature by publishing works that explore the emotional and psychological landscapes of everyday life.
CKP publishes, distributes, promotes, and fosters discussion of books by diverse authors. Each year, CKP publishes six books, sells 4,000-4,500, and donates 500. In addition to publication, CKP offers authors extensive free promotional training, speaking opportunities, live and virtual launch readings, and honorariums. CKP intentionally elevates the voices of writers who are underrepresented in the publishing industry. One example is its LaurelBooks imprint, which serves people living with chronic physical and psychological illness.
Promotional images for CavanKerry Press. Photo courtesy of CavanKerry Press.
In 2024, CKP events were held in 21 states, reaching more than 24,000 people of all ages, races, ethnicities, and orientations. CKP currently conducts readings in public libraries in Camden, Fort Lee, and Newark. Beyond its community in New Jersey, CKP hosts a reading series at two venues in New York City and presents at festivals in New York, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts.
CKP authors also serve communities with innovative and unique programs. They work with older adults, veterans, and people in shelters and prisons to encourage them to express themselves. Through its Poetry Heals workshops in hospitals, CKP authors use poetry to help participants identify, articulate, and heal from the burdens and stress of their work as caregivers. CKP’s grant from the Poetry Foundation supported the recent expansion of Poetry Heals workshops through new partnerships with two hospitals.
CKP authors also connect young people to poetry to help address literacy, stress, anxiety, and social pressures, particularly among LGBTQ+ youth. Along with Word Seed in Paterson, New Jersey, CKP serves students of all ages by providing speakers, judges, workshop leaders, and free books at Word Seed festivals, youth poetry contests, readings, and writing camps. CKP also supports the New Jersey chapter of Poetry Out Loud (POL) by donating books to participating schools, granting scholarships to teachers from winning schools, and providing CKP authors to serve as competition judges.
CKP prioritizes equity and inclusion in staffing, publishing, and programming. CKP hires external readers to help select manuscripts and ensure BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and disabled representation in its publication. Its community programming is committed to honoring freedom of expression and elevating diverse voices to advance a deeper understanding of our shared humanity.
The Poetry Foundation’s Poetry Programs, Partnerships, and Innovation grant has enabled CKP to increase access and grow its poetry audience. Funding helped offset the increasing cost of book production, supporting editing, printing, distribution, and marketing. Additionally, the grant allowed CKP to offer promotional training for poets, including website development, building a social media presence, obtaining print media reviews, and securing book tours and reading opportunities. Poetry Foundation support also enabled CKP to pay more poets and writers.
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