KB Brookins | |
---|---|
Born | Fort Worth, Texas, U.S. | August 28, 1995
Occupation | Writer |
Nationality | American |
Education | Texas Christian University (BA) University of Texas at Austin (MFA - in progress) |
Genres | Poetry, Creative Nonfiction |
Notable works | Freedom House (2023), How To Identify Yourself With a Wound (2022) |
Notable awards | National Endowment of the Arts Fellowship, Stonewall Book Awards Honor |
Website | |
www |
KB Brookins (born August 28, 1995) is a Black American author, poet, and essayist. Brookins is a 2023 Creative Writing fellow with the National Endowment for the Arts.,[1] and the author of 2022 poetry chapbook How To Identify Yourself with a Wound [2] and the 2023 poetry collection Freedom House.[3]
Early life and education
Brookins was born and raised in Fort Worth, Texas.[4] They first became interested in poetry in 7th grade after a teacher introduced them to the genre.[5] They started writing their own poetry in high school.[6]
Brookins attended Texas Christian University and graduated in 2017.[7]
Career
Brookins received the 2022 Treehouse Climate Action Prize from the Academy of American Poets for their poem "Good Grief".[8] Their poetry chapbook How To Identify Yourself with a Wound won the Saguaro Poetry Prize and a Writer's League of Texas Discovery Prize.[9][10] It was also selected as a 2023 Stonewall Honor Book Award through the American Library Association. [11] Vogue called their writing style "urgent and timely while still holding space for the possibility of a life lived on one’s own terms."[12]
Brookins' book, Freedom House, explores themes of race, transgender identity, and gentrification among others.[13] In a review, Southern Review of Books called it "an unapologetic, forward-dreaming manifesto for a better, shared future."[14] Karla J. Strand of Ms. included it in "the best poetry of the last year".[15]
Brookins worked as a Program Coordinator at The University of Texas at Austin’s Gender and Sexuality Center.[16] Brookins founded two nonprofit organizations in Austin, Texas: Interfaces [17][18] and Embrace Austin.[19] 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."[20]
Works
Poems
- “Notes After Watching the Inauguration," "My therapist called it climate despair," "Snake Plant," and "T Shot #9: Ode to my Sharps Container". Poetry Magazine. 2023[21]
- “T Shot #5: Ode to My Sharps Container” (republished). Metro Weekly. 2023
- "Remix #2". Kenyon Review. 2023[22]
- "What's On Your Mind, KB?". Cincinnati Review. 2023[23]
- "Love Machine". Split This Rock. 2023[24]
- “Good Grief”. Academy of American Poets (Poem-A-Day). 2022[25]
- "Poem Against Black ____ Magic". Poetry Northwest. 2022[26]
- “KB’s Origin Story”, “Yebba’s Heartbreak”. Electric Literature. 2022[27]
- “& Somehow, Men Are Nicer to me Now”. American Poetry Review. 2022[28]
Essays
- “KB Brookins on T Shot #4”. Poetry Society of America. 2023[29]
- "Freedom House: A Sonic Bibliography". Oxford American. 2023[30]
- "Trans Texans Are Being Surveilled, This Is Everyone’s Issue". Autostraddle. 2022[31]
- "How Kendrick Lamar Stumbles Toward Queer And Trans Allyship On 'Auntie Diaries'". Okayplayer. 2022[32]
- "This Is What It's Like Going To The Gynecologist When You're Black, Trans And In Texas". HuffPost. 2022[33]
- "Why Coming Out to My Family Isn't on My Holiday To-Do List". Teen Vogue. 2021[34]
Books
- Pretty. Alfred A. Knopf. 2024. ISBN 9780593537145
- Freedom House. Deep Vellum. 2023. ISBN 9781646052639
- How To Identify Yourself With a Wound. Kallisto Gaia Press. 2022. ISBN 9781952224133
Zines
In anthology
- Emerge: Lambda Literary 2018 Fellows anthology. Lambda Literary Foundation. ISBN 9781799248040
Edited
- Winter Storm Project: Austin, Texas Artists on Winter Storm Uri. Winter Storm Project. ISBN 9780578361123
Awards and fellowships
- 2018 Lambda Literary Foundation Writer’s Retreat for Emerging LGBTQ Voices Fellow (Poetry)[37]
- 2021 PEN America Emerging Voices Fellow (Poetry) [38]
- 2022 Academy of American Poets Treehouse Climate Action Prize Recipient [39][8]
- 2022 Western Illinois University Fred Ewing Case and Lola Case Writer-in-Residence[40]
- 2022 Writer's League of Texas Discovery Prizer Winner - Poetry[10]
- 2022-23 Civil Rights Corps Poet in Residence[41]
- 2023 National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellow[42]
- 2023 Stonewall Book Award Honor Book[43]
Personal life
Brookins moved to Austin, TX in 2018.[2] Brookins identifies as non-binary and uses they/them pronouns.[44] They currently are a graduate student at the University of Texas at Austin.[45]
References
- ↑ This article incorporates public domain material from Meet the Creative Writing Fellows: KB Brookins. National Endowment for the Arts.
- 1 2 St. Jude, Jenn (2022). "Validated, Represented, and Connected to a Larger Narrative: An Interview with KB". Chicago Review of Books.
- ↑ Ripatrazone, Nick (2023), "Must-read Poetry: Spring 2023", The Millions
- ↑ Congress, The Library of. "KB (Brookins) - LC Linked Data Service: Authorities and Vocabularies | Library of Congress, from LC Linked Data Service: Authorities and Vocabularies (Library of Congress)". id.loc.gov. Retrieved 2023-07-20.
- ↑ Foundation, Poetry (2023-05-16). "KB Brookins and Holly Amos on Systemic Freedom, the Power of Insistence, and What People Don't Understand about Texas - The Poetry Magazine Podcast". Poetry Foundation. Retrieved 2023-05-17.
- ↑ "A Normal Interview with KB Brookins by James O'Bannon". The Normal School. 2023-05-03. Retrieved 2023-05-16.
- ↑ Wilson, Jeff (2023-05-10). "KB Brookins: How It Started ... How It's Going". TCU Magazine. Retrieved 2023-05-16.
- 1 2 Poets, Academy of American. "The Academy of American Poets Announces 2022 Winners of the Treehouse Climate Action Poem Prize | poets.org". poets.org. Retrieved 2023-05-17.
- ↑ "Saguaro Poetry Prize Winner – Kallisto Gaia Press". Retrieved 2023-05-17.
- 1 2 "2022 Book Award Winners and Finalists". Writers League of Texas. 2023-09-14. Retrieved 2023-10-02.
- ↑ "Stonewall Book Awards List". American Library Association. 2023. Retrieved 2023-06-25.
- ↑ "The Best New Poetry Collections to Read (or Preorder) Now". Vogue. 2023-04-04. Retrieved 2023-05-17.
- ↑ "Freedom House". Deep Vellum. Retrieved 2023-07-20.
- ↑ Hill, Chaney (2023-04-12). ""Freedom House" Imagines a House for All". Southern Review of Books. Retrieved 2023-07-20.
- ↑ Strand, Karla J. (2023-04-20). "Reads for the Rest of Us: The Best Poetry of the Last Year". Ms. Magazine. Retrieved 2023-07-20.
- ↑ "Speakers discuss steps for change at UT during final day of State of Black UT". The Daily Texan. 2021.
- ↑ Weller, Dorothy Meiburg (July 30, 2021). "In Austin, indie creative writing communities thrive beyond the ivory tower". Sightlines.
- ↑ Neumann, Laiken (2021). ""Very Queer and Very Hip-Hop": ATX Interfaces Cuts the Crap With Community-Based Art Programming". The Austin Chronicle.
- ↑ Sullivan, Beth (2021). "Embrace Austin Seeks to Build Bridges Between Queer People and Queer Initiatives". The Austin Chronicle.
- ↑ Weller, Dorothy Meiburg (2021-07-30). "In Austin, indie creative writing communities thrive beyond the ivory tower". Sightlines. Retrieved 2023-05-17.
- ↑ Foundation, Poetry (2023-07-20). "KB Brookins". Poetry Foundation. Retrieved 2023-07-20.
- ↑ "KB Brookins | Kenyon Review Author". The Kenyon Review. Retrieved 2023-10-02.
- ↑ "miCRo: "What's on your mind, KB?" by KB Brookins - The Cincinnati Review". 2023-05-03. Retrieved 2023-07-20.
- ↑ "Love Machine | Poetry Database | Split This Rock". www.splitthisrock.org. Retrieved 2023-07-20.
- ↑ Poets, Academy of American. "Good Grief by KB Brookins - Poems | Academy of American Poets". Poets.org. Retrieved 2023-07-20.
- ↑ "We Are Not Untouchable". 2022-09-10. Retrieved 2023-07-20.
- ↑ Juarez, Alex (2022-05-02). "My Gender Won't Fit in the Family Car". Electric Literature. Retrieved 2023-07-20.
- ↑ "American Poetry Review - KB Brookins - "& Somehow, Men Are Nicer to Me Now"". American Poetry Review. Retrieved 2023-07-20.
- ↑ "KB Brookins on "T Shot #4"". Poetry Society of America. Retrieved 2023-07-20.
- ↑ "Freedom House: A Sonic Bibliography". Oxford American. Retrieved 2023-07-20.
- ↑ Brookins, K. B. (2022-12-21). "Trans Texans Are Being Surveilled, This Is Everyone's Issue". Autostraddle. Retrieved 2023-07-20.
- ↑ "How Kendrick Lamar Stumbles Toward Queer And Trans Allyship On "Auntie Diaries" - Okayplayer". www.okayplayer.com. Retrieved 2023-07-20.
- ↑ "This Is What It's Like Going To The Gynecologist When You're Black, Trans And In Texas". HuffPost. 2022-02-03. Retrieved 2023-07-20.
- ↑ "Why I Won't Be Coming Out to My Family During the Holidays". Teen Vogue. 2021-12-07. Retrieved 2023-07-20.
- ↑ "A new relationship to pain : poems | WorldCat.org". www.worldcat.org. Retrieved 2023-07-27.
- ↑ "zines". KB Brookins. Retrieved 2023-07-27.
- ↑ "Nia KB". Lambda Literary. Retrieved 2023-05-17.
- ↑ "2021 Emerging Voices Fellows and Mentors". PEN America.
- ↑ "Treehouse Climate Action Poem Prize | Academy of American Poets". Academy of American Poets. 2022.
- ↑ "Poet KB to Serve as Fred Ewing Case and Lola Case Writer-in-Residence Sept. 15 - WIU News". www.wiu.edu. Retrieved 2023-05-17.
- ↑ "Current Artist in Residence Archives". Civil Rights Corps. Retrieved 2023-05-17.
- ↑ "Meet the Creative Writing Fellows: KB Brookins".
- ↑ admin (2009-09-09). "Stonewall Book Awards List". Round Tables. Retrieved 2023-07-20.
- ↑ Rangel, Leslie (2021). "Poet using spoken, written word to provide hope and understanding". Fox 7. Retrieved 2021-06-11.
- ↑ "Profile for KB Brookins at UT Austin". liberalarts.utexas.edu. Retrieved 2023-05-17.