KB Brookins
KB Brookins is a Black queer and trans writer, cultural worker, and installation artist from Texas. KB’s chapbook How To Identify Yourself with a Wound won the Saguaro Poetry Prize, a Writer’s League of Texas Discovery Prize, and an American Library Association Stonewall Honor Book Award. Their debut full-length poetry collection Freedom House received praise from Vogue, BookRiot, Autostraddle, Texas Observer, and many others. KB’s debut memoir Pretty releases on May 28, 2024 with Alfred A. Knopf. Follow them online at @earthtokb or visit their website at https://earthtokb.com/.
Brookins's poem, My therapist called it “climate despair” (Poetry Magazine, 2023):
& I’m having a hard time being perceived. In public,
I puddle into the nearest corner. In private, I fidget
my fingers as I cancel the 5th plan this week. There are
no commercials in the midst of burning. When I awoke
this morning, I told my heart to stop talking. Light
shone through my window & all 110 degrees were
the same thing. I walk to the store & a fight breaks out.
I walk back home & my mind goes missing. Dizziness pins me
to the pavement like Black boys when cop cars are too close.
There are no commercials in the midst of fat-backed TVs
playing me, losing consciousness, on loop. Heat follows me
to the ER like a name somebody else chose. Heavy eyelids
are an insult to injury. Tomorrow morning I embrace
the hospital bed like isolation during the worst heatstorm
in history till I turn my head to mama. Be lucky the laws were hot
or you would’ve burned to death. There are no commercials
in the cartoon we call US. Remove the memorized
guide from my brain.
Recommended reading for new authors:
Student testimonial: “KB Brookins's thoughtfulness and attention to detail is felt through not only their writing and community leading but also through their teaching... I’m grateful to Brookins for creating a brave space, for their kindness and reflection with student questions, and for encouraging a willingness to learn together."
- Katherine O’Hara, UNCW MFA alumna & Communications Director at the North Carolina Writers’ Network
Teaching Philosophy: Universal Design of Learning, as in no one is left confused, or behind, or without all of themselves present. We should always aim to have fun while we're learning. Practice makes permanent.
Brookins's poem, My therapist called it “climate despair” (Poetry Magazine, 2023):
& I’m having a hard time being perceived. In public,
I puddle into the nearest corner. In private, I fidget
my fingers as I cancel the 5th plan this week. There are
no commercials in the midst of burning. When I awoke
this morning, I told my heart to stop talking. Light
shone through my window & all 110 degrees were
the same thing. I walk to the store & a fight breaks out.
I walk back home & my mind goes missing. Dizziness pins me
to the pavement like Black boys when cop cars are too close.
There are no commercials in the midst of fat-backed TVs
playing me, losing consciousness, on loop. Heat follows me
to the ER like a name somebody else chose. Heavy eyelids
are an insult to injury. Tomorrow morning I embrace
the hospital bed like isolation during the worst heatstorm
in history till I turn my head to mama. Be lucky the laws were hot
or you would’ve burned to death. There are no commercials
in the cartoon we call US. Remove the memorized
guide from my brain.
Recommended reading for new authors:
- The Art of the Poetic Line - James Logenbach
- The Art of the Memoir - Mary Karr
- Before and After The Book Deal - Courtney Maum
- The Bluest Eye - Toni Morrison
- Home is Not a Country - Safia Elhillo
Student testimonial: “KB Brookins's thoughtfulness and attention to detail is felt through not only their writing and community leading but also through their teaching... I’m grateful to Brookins for creating a brave space, for their kindness and reflection with student questions, and for encouraging a willingness to learn together."
- Katherine O’Hara, UNCW MFA alumna & Communications Director at the North Carolina Writers’ Network
Teaching Philosophy: Universal Design of Learning, as in no one is left confused, or behind, or without all of themselves present. We should always aim to have fun while we're learning. Practice makes permanent.