A Gathering of Tribes is a non-profit arts organization based in New York City that provides a platform for diverse, traditionally underrepresented artists and writers. amplifying the emerging and established revolutionary voices of our time.

Tribes is also committed to honoring and memorializing life and legacy of our founder, Steve Cannon.

Founded in 1991 by blind poet, playwright, novelist, and former Medgar Evers College professor Steve Cannon (1935–2019), A Gathering of the Tribes began as a literary  magazine that incorporated as a nonprofit arts organization in 1993.

Tribes is committed to honoring and memorializing Steve Cannon’s life and legacy. Our founder believed in the power of multiculturalism and interdisciplinary connections. This was the impetus for the creation of A Gathering of the Tribes. He provided a space that empowered artists and writers of color, immigrants, women, members of the LGBTQIA+ community, and people from diverse class backgrounds, to come together, bonded by a singular passion: love of the arts. He provided an open space for rigorous intellectual debate, and experimentation, the combination of which is the lifeblood of the arts.

Like our founder, we remain deeply committed to celebrating diversity and multiculturalism, which is apparent throughout every aspect of our programming. Tribes envisions a world where intellectual and creative endeavors are valued as much as labor and capital, and seeks to support artists of diversity and unique ability who may have otherwise been overlooked by mainstream institutions. We provide artists and writers with access to broader audiences, financial incentives to continue creating, and connection to a vibrant community.