KB Brookins

Brookins was born and raised in Fort Worth, Texas.{{Cite web |title=KB (Brookins) |url=https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/no2022019800.html |access-date=2023-07-20 |website=id.loc.gov |publisher=Library of Congress}} They first became interested in poetry in 7th grade after a teacher introduced them to the genre.{{Cite podcast |url=https://www.poetryfoundation.org/podcasts/159852/kb-brookins-and-holly-amos-on-systemic-freedom-the-power-of-insistence-and-what-people-dont-understand-about-texas |title=KB Brookins and Holly Amos on Systemic Freedom, the Power of Insistence, and What People Don't Understand about Texas |website=The Poetry Magazine Podcast |publisher=Poetry Foundation |date=2023-05-16 |language=en |access-date=2023-05-17}} They started writing their own poetry in high school.{{Cite web |date=2023-05-03 |title=A Normal Interview with KB Brookins by James O'Bannon |url=https://www.thenormalschool.com/blog/2023/5/3/kb-brookins-interview |access-date=2023-05-16 |website=The Normal School |language=en-US}}

Brookins attended Texas Christian University and graduated in 2017.{{Cite web |last=Wilson |first=Jeff |date=2023-05-10 |title=KB Brookins: How It Started ... How It's Going |url=https://magazine.tcu.edu/summer-2023/kb-brookins-identify-yourself-wound/ |access-date=2023-05-16 |website=TCU Magazine |language=en}}

Brookins received the 2022 Treehouse Climate Action Prize from the Academy of American Poets for their poem "Good Grief".{{Cite web |title=The Academy of American Poets Announces 2022 Winners of the Treehouse Climate Action Poem Prize |url=https://poets.org/academy-american-poets-announces-2022-winners-treehouse-climate-action-poem-prize |access-date=2023-05-17 |website=poets.org}} Their poetry chapbook How To Identify Yourself with a Wound won the Saguaro Poetry Prize and a Writer's League of Texas Discovery Prize.{{Cite web |title=Saguaro Poetry Prize Winner |url=https://www.kallistogaiapress.org/saguaro-poetry-prize-winner/ |access-date=2023-05-17 |website=Kallisto Gaia Press |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |date=2023-09-14 |title=2022 Book Award Winners and Finalists |url=https://writersleague.org/programs/annual-book-awards/2022-book-award-winners-and-finalists/ |access-date=2023-10-02 |website=Writers League of Texas |language=en-US}} It was also selected as a 2023 Stonewall Honor Book Award through the American Library Association.{{Cite web |date=2023 |title=Stonewall Book Awards List |url=https://www.ala.org/rt/rrt/award/stonewall/honored |access-date=2023-06-25 |website=American Library Association |language=en-US}}

Freedom House explores themes of race, transgender identity, and gentrification among others.{{Cite web |title=Freedom House |url=https://store.deepvellum.org/products/freedom-house |access-date=2023-07-20 |website=Deep Vellum |language=en}} Vogue called their writing style in the book "urgent and timely while still holding space for the possibility of a life lived on one’s own terms."{{Cite web |date=2023-04-04 |title=The Best New Poetry Collections to Read (or Preorder) Now |url=https://www.vogue.com/article/the-best-new-poetry-collections-to-read-or-preorder-now-2023 |access-date=2023-05-17 |website=Vogue |language=en-US}} Karla J. Strand of Ms. included it in "the best poetry of the last year".{{Cite web |last=Strand |first=Karla J. |date=2023-04-20 |title=Reads for the Rest of Us: The Best Poetry of the Last Year |url=https://msmagazine.com/2023/04/20/best-poetry-2023-feminist-women-lgbtq-writers/ |access-date=2023-07-20 |website=Ms. Magazine |language=en-US}} Freedom House won the 2024 Stonewall Book Award Barbara Gittings Literature Award and an award with the Texas Institute of Letters.{{Cite web |date=2022-05-01 |title=Home |url=https://texasinstituteofletters.org/ |access-date=2024-03-18 |website=texasinstituteofletters.org |language=en-US}} Freedom House was named a best book of 2023 by Autostraddle, Texas Observer, and Chicago Review of Books.{{Cite web |last=RAGARCIA |date=2024-02-05 |title="Freedom House" wins 2024 Stonewall Barbara Gittings Literature Award |url=https://www.ala.org/news/press-releases/2024/02/freedom-house-wins-2024-stonewall-barbara-gittings-literature-award |access-date=2024-02-14 |website=News and Press Center |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Casey |date=2023-12-12 |title=65 of the Best Queer Books of 2023 |url=https://www.autostraddle.com/65-of-the-best-queer-books-of-2023/ |access-date=2024-02-14 |website=Autostraddle |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |date=2023-12-22 |title=61 Notable Debuts by Trans, Nonbinary, and Gender Non-conforming Authors |url=https://chireviewofbooks.com/2023/12/22/61-notable-debuts-by-trans-nonbinary-and-gender-non-conforming-authors/ |access-date=2024-02-14 |website=Chicago Review of Books |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Olsen |first=Lise |date=2023-12-13 |title=The Texas Observer's 2023 Must-Read Lone Star Books |url=https://www.texasobserver.org/the-texas-observers-2023-must-read-lone-star-books/ |access-date=2024-05-28 |website=The Texas Observer |language=en-US}}

Pretty has gotten favorable reviews in Kirkus among other venues.{{Cite web |title=Pretty by KB Brookins: 9780593537145 {{!}} PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books |url=https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/724994/pretty-by-kb-brookins/ |access-date=2024-05-28 |website=PenguinRandomhouse.com |language=en-US}} Brookins worked as a Program Coordinator at The University of Texas at Austin’s Gender and Sexuality Center.{{Cite web |year=2021 |title=Speakers discuss steps for change at UT during final day of State of Black UT |url=https://thedailytexan.com/2021/02/13/speakers-discuss-steps-for-change-at-ut-during-final-day-of-state-of-black-ut/ |magazine=The Daily Texan}}{{Cite web |last=Field |first=Kelly |date=February 12, 2024 |title=What's In a Name? |url=https://www.chronicle.com/article/the-misnomer |website=The Chronicle of Higher Education}} Brookins founded two nonprofit organizations in Austin, Texas: Interfaces {{Cite web |last=Weller |first=Dorothy Meiburg |date=July 30, 2021 |title=In Austin, indie creative writing communities thrive beyond the ivory tower |url=https://sightlinesmag.org/in-austin-indie-creative-writing-communities-thrive-beyond-the-ivory-tower |website=Sightlines}}{{Cite web |last=Neumann |first=Laiken |year=2021 |title="Very Queer and Very Hip-Hop": ATX Interfaces Cuts the Crap With Community-Based Art Programming |url=https://www.austinchronicle.com/arts/2021-05-21/very-queer-and-very-hip-hop-atx-interfaces-cuts-the-crap-with-community-based-art-programming/ |magazine=The Austin Chronicle}} and Embrace Austin.{{Cite web |last=Sullivan |first=Beth |year=2021 |title=Embrace Austin Seeks to Build Bridges Between Queer People and Queer Initiatives |url=https://www.austinchronicle.com/columns/2021-01-22/qmmunity-embrace-austin-seeks-to-build-bridges-between-queer-people-and-queer-initiatives/ |magazine=The Austin Chronicle}} Brookins stated that Interfaces started "as a response to 'a serious problem with accessibility' of all kinds, including physical and financial, in the literary and arts events they attended in Austin."{{Cite web |last=Weller |first=Dorothy Meiburg |date=2021-07-30 |title=In Austin, indie creative writing communities thrive beyond the ivory tower |url=https://sightlinesmag.org/in-austin-indie-creative-writing-communities-thrive-beyond-the-ivory-tower |access-date=2023-05-17 |website=Sightlines |language=en-US}}

Brookins is the subject of a documentary that premieres at the 2024 BFI Flare: London LGBTIQ+ Film Festival.{{Cite web |title=BFI Flare: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival 2024 |url=https://whatson.bfi.org.uk/flare/Online/default.asp |access-date=2024-02-14 |website=BFI Flare: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival 2024 |language=en}} Brookins turned their book Freedom House into an art exhibit, which premiered in Austin, Texas in April 2024.{{Cite web |last=Anderson |first=Carys |title=The Off Beat: KB Brookins' Poetry Book-Turned-Art Exhibit |url=https://www.austinchronicle.com/columns/2024-04-05/the-off-beat-kb-brookins-poetry-book-turned-art-exhibit/ |access-date=2024-04-14 |website=www.austinchronicle.com |language=en-US}}

• {{Cite book |last=Brookins |first=KB |title=Pretty |publisher=Alfred A. Knopf |year=2024 |isbn=9780593537145 |ref=none |author-mask=2}}{{Cite web |title=Pretty by KB Brookins: 9780593537145 |url=https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/724994/pretty-by-kb-brookins/ |access-date=2024-04-11 |website=PenguinRandomhouse.com |language=en-US}}
• {{Cite book |last=Brookins |first=KB |title=Freedom House |publisher=Deep Vellum |year=2023 |isbn=9781646052639 |ref=none |author-mask=2}}{{Cite web |title=Freedom House |url=https://store.deepvellum.org/products/freedom-house |access-date=2024-04-11 |website=Deep Vellum |language=en}}
• {{Cite book |last=Brookins |first=KB |title=How To Identify Yourself With a Wound |publisher=Kallisto Gaia Press |year=2022 |isbn=9781952224133 |ref=none |author-mask=2}}{{Cite web |title=How to Identify Yourself with a Wound |url=https://www.kallistogaiapress.org/product/how-to-identify-yourself-with-a-wound/ |access-date=2024-04-11 |website=Kallisto Gaia Press}}

• {{Cite magazine |last=Brookins |first=KB |author-mask=2 |date=March 2023 |title=My therapist called it climate despair |magazine=Poetry Magazine}}
• {{Cite magazine |last=Brookins |first=KB |author-mask=2 |date=March 2023 |title=Notes After Watching the Inauguration |magazine=Poetry Magazine}}{{Cite web |date=March 2023 |title=March 2023 |url=https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/issue/159596/march-2023 |website=Poetry Magazine |publisher=Poetry Foundation}}
• {{Cite magazine |last=Brookins |first=KB |author-mask=2 |date=March 2023 |title=Snake Plant |magazine=Poetry Magazine}}
• {{Cite magazine |last=Brookins |first=KB |author-mask=2 |date=March 2023 |title=T Shot #9: Ode to my Sharps Container |magazine=Poetry Magazine}}
• “T Shot #5: Ode to My Sharps Container” (republished). Metro Weekly. 2023
• "Remix #2". Kenyon Review. 2023{{Cite web |title=KB Brookins {{!}} Kenyon Review Author |url=https://kenyonreview.org/contributor/kb-brookins/ |access-date=2023-10-02 |website=The Kenyon Review |language=en-US}}
• "What's On Your Mind, KB?". Cincinnati Review. 2023{{Cite web |date=2023-05-03 |title=miCRo: "What's on your mind, KB?" by KB Brookins - The Cincinnati Review |url=https://www.cincinnatireview.com/micro/micro-whats-on-your-mind-kb-by-kb-brookins/ |access-date=2023-07-20 |language=en-US}}
• "Love Machine". Split This Rock. 2023{{Cite web |title=Love Machine {{!}} Poetry Database {{!}} Split This Rock |url=https://www.splitthisrock.org/poetry-database/poem/love-machine |access-date=2023-07-20 |website=www.splitthisrock.org |language=en}}
• “Good Grief”. Academy of American Poets (Poem-A-Day). 2022{{Cite web |last=Poets |first=Academy of American |title=Good Grief by KB Brookins - Poems {{!}} Academy of American Poets |url=https://poets.org/poem/good-grief |access-date=2023-07-20 |website=Poets.org |language=en}}
• "Poem Against Black ____ Magic". Poetry Northwest. 2022{{Cite web |date=2022-09-10 |title=We Are Not Untouchable |url=https://www.poetrynw.org/we-are-not-untouchable/ |access-date=2023-07-20 |language=en-US}}
• “KB’s Origin Story”, “Yebba’s Heartbreak”. Electric Literature. 2022{{Cite web |last=Juarez |first=Alex |date=2022-05-02 |title=My Gender Won't Fit in the Family Car |url=https://electricliterature.com/two-poems-by-kb/ |access-date=2023-07-20 |website=Electric Literature |language=en-US}}
• “& Somehow, Men Are Nicer to me Now”. American Poetry Review. 2022{{Cite web |title=American Poetry Review - KB Brookins - "& Somehow, Men Are Nicer to Me Now" |url=http://aprweb.org/poems/somehow-men-are-nicer-to-me-now |access-date=2023-07-20 |website=American Poetry Review |language=en}}

• “KB Brookins on T Shot #4”. Poetry Society of America. 2023{{Cite web |title=KB Brookins on "T Shot #4" |url=https://poetrysociety.org/poems-essays/in-their-own-words/kb-brookins-on-t-shot-4 |access-date=2023-07-20 |website=Poetry Society of America |language=en}}
• "Freedom House: A Sonic Bibliography". Oxford American. 2023{{Cite web |title=Freedom House: A Sonic Bibliography |url=https://oxfordamerican.org/web-only/freedom-house-kb-brookins-playlist |access-date=2023-07-20 |website=Oxford American |language=en}}
• "Trans Texans Are Being Surveilled, This Is Everyone’s Issue". Autostraddle. 2022{{Cite web |last=Brookins |first=K. B. |date=2022-12-21 |title=Trans Texans Are Being Surveilled, This Is Everyone's Issue |url=https://www.autostraddle.com/trans-texans-are-being-surveilled-this-is-everyones-issue/ |access-date=2023-07-20 |website=Autostraddle |language=en-US}}
• "How Kendrick Lamar Stumbles Toward Queer And Trans Allyship On 'Auntie Diaries'". Okayplayer. 2022{{Cite web |title=How Kendrick Lamar Stumbles Toward Queer And Trans Allyship On "Auntie Diaries" - Okayplayer |url=https://www.okayplayer.com/originals/kendrick-lamar-auntie-diaries-review.html |access-date=2023-07-20 |website=www.okayplayer.com |language=en}}
• "This Is What It's Like Going To The Gynecologist When You're Black, Trans And In Texas". HuffPost. 2022{{Cite web |date=2022-02-03 |title=This Is What It's Like Going To The Gynecologist When You're Black, Trans And In Texas |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/black-trans-texas-abortion-gynecologist_n_61f7fe58e4b04f9a12c06a7a |access-date=2023-07-20 |website=HuffPost |language=en}}
• "Why Coming Out to My Family Isn't on My Holiday To-Do List". Teen Vogue. 2021{{Cite web |date=2021-12-07 |title=Why I Won't Be Coming Out to My Family During the Holidays |url=https://www.teenvogue.com/story/why-coming-out-to-my-family-isnt-on-my-holiday-to-do-list |access-date=2023-07-20 |website=Teen Vogue |language=en-US}}

• {{Cite book |last=Brookins |first=KB |title=Nothing Was the Cause of Their Deaths. |publisher=Winter Storm Project |year=2023 |isbn=9798218222475 |ref=none |author-mask=2}}
• {{Cite book |last=Brookins |first=KB |title=A New Relationship to Pain |publisher=LibroMobile |year=2021 |oclc=1296956995 |ref=none |author-mask=2}}{{Cite web |title=A new relationship to pain : poems |url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/1296956995 |access-date=2023-07-27 |website=www.worldcat.org |language=en}}
• {{Cite book |last=Brookins |first=KB |title=In Another Life |year=2019 |ref=none |author-mask=2}}{{Cite web |title=zines |url=https://earthtokb.com/zines |access-date=2023-07-27 |website=KB Brookins |language=en-US}}

• Freedom House: An Exhibition. 2024

• {{Cite book |title=Emerge: Lambda Literary 2018 Fellows anthology |date=2019 |publisher=Lambda Literary Foundation |isbn=9781799248040 |ref=none}}

• {{Cite book |title=Winter Storm Project: Austin, Texas Artists on Winter Storm Uri |date=13 February 2022 |publisher=Winter Storm Project |isbn=9780578361123 |ref=none}}

• 2018 Lambda Literary Foundation Writer’s Retreat for Emerging LGBTQ Voices Fellow (Poetry){{Cite web |title=Nia KB |url=https://lambdaliterary.org/faculty_and_fellows/nia-kb/ |access-date=2023-05-17 |website=Lambda Literary |language=en}}
• 2021 PEN America Emerging Voices Fellow (Poetry) {{Cite web |title=2021 Emerging Voices Fellows and Mentors |url=https://pen.org/2021-emerging-voices-fellows-mentors/ |website=PEN America}}
• 2022 Academy of American Poets Treehouse Climate Action Prize Recipient {{Cite web |year=2022 |title=Treehouse Climate Action Poem Prize | Academy of American Poets |url=https://poets.org/academy-american-poets/prizes/treehouse-climate-action-poem-prize |magazine=Academy of American Poets}}
• 2022 Western Illinois University Fred Ewing Case and Lola Case Writer-in-Residence{{Cite web |title=Poet KB to Serve as Fred Ewing Case and Lola Case Writer-in-Residence Sept. 15 - WIU News |url=http://www.wiu.edu/news/newsrelease.php?release_id=18680 |access-date=2023-05-17 |website=www.wiu.edu}}
• 2022 Writer's League of Texas Discovery Prizer Winner - Poetry
• 2022-23 Civil Rights Corps Poet in Residence{{Cite web |title=Current Artist in Residence Archives |url=https://civilrightscorps.org/portfolio-category/current/ |access-date=2023-05-17 |website=Civil Rights Corps |language=en-US}}
• 2023 National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellow{{Cite web |title=Meet the Creative Writing Fellows: KB Brookins |url=https://www.arts.gov/impact/literary-arts/creative-writing-fellows/kb-brookins}}
• 2023 Stonewall Book Award Honor Book{{Cite web |last=admin |date=2009-09-09 |title=Stonewall Book Awards List |url=https://www.ala.org/rt/rrt/award/stonewall/honored |access-date=2023-07-20 |website=Round Tables |language=en}}
• 2023 Texas Institute of Letters Award
• 2024 Stonewall Book Award Barbara Gittings Literature Award for Poetry
• 2025 Saints & Sinners LGBTQ+ Literary Festival Dorothy Allison / Felice Picano Emerging Writer Award{{Cite web |title=Saints & Sinners Festival Renames Award to Honor Dorothy Allison, Felice Picano |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/newsbrief/index.html?record=5275 |access-date=2025-05-01 |website=PublishersWeekly.com |language=en}}
• 2025 Great Lakes Colleges Association New Writers Award in Creative Non-Fiction{{Cite web |last=Anderson |first=Marc |date=2025-01-02 |title=GLCA Announces Winner of 2025 New Writers Award |url=https://www.glca.org/glca-announces-winner-of-2024-new-writers-award-2/ |access-date=2025-05-01 |website=Great Lakes Colleges Association |language=en-US}}
• 2025 ACLU of Texas Artist-in-Residence{{Cite web |last=Aton |first=Francesca |date=2025-05-01 |title=The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas Names 2025–26 Artists-in-Residence |url=https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/american-civil-liberties-union-of-texas-artists-in-residence-1234740261/ |access-date=2025-05-01 |website=ARTnews.com |language=en-US}}

Brookins moved to Austin, TX in 2018. Brookins identifies as non-binary and uses they/them pronouns.{{Cite news |last=Rangel |first=Leslie |year=2021 |title=Poet using spoken, written word to provide hope and understanding |url=https://www.fox7austin.com/news/poet-using-spoken-written-word-to-provide-hope-and-understanding |access-date=2021-06-11 |agency=Fox 7}} They currently are a graduate student at the University of Texas at Austin.{{Cite web |title=Profile for KB Brookins at UT Austin |url=https://liberalarts.utexas.edu/english/gradstudents/nb25334 |access-date=2023-05-17 |website=liberalarts.utexas.edu |language=en}}

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{{commonscat|KB Brookins}}

• {{Official website|https://earthtokb.com/}}

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Category:Living people

Category:21st-century American writers

Category:African-American poets

Category:American LGBTQ poets

Category:American queer writers

Category:1995 births

Category:Queer poets

Category:21st-century American poets

Category:21st-century African-American writers

Category:21st-century American LGBTQ people

Category:Stonewall Book Award winners