KB Brookins is a Black, queer, and trans writer, educator, and cultural worker from Texas. Their writing is featured in HuffPost, Teen Vogue, Academy of American Poets, Poetry Society of America, Oxford American, and elsewhere. KB’s poetry chapbook How To Identify Yourself with a Wound won the Saguaro Poetry Prize, a Writer’s League of Texas Discovery Prize, and a Stonewall Honor Book Award. Their poetry collection Freedom House, described as “urgent and timely” by Vogue, won the American Library Association Barbara Gittings Literature Award and the Texas Institute of Letters Award for the Best First Book of Poetry. Freedom House was named a Best Book of 2023 by four publications, and KB adapted Freedom House into a solo art exhibit, displayed at multiple museums. Their debut memoir Pretty (Alfred A. Knopf, 2024) won the Great Lakes Colleges Association New Writers Award in Creative Nonfiction.

KB’s background in nonprofit management, student affairs, and K-12 teaching informs their cultural work. They founded and co-led two nonprofits to advance LGBTQIA+ justice and nurture/amplify marginalized artists in Central Texas. For two years, KB was the Program Coordinator of the Gender and Sexuality Center at the University of Texas at Austin, where they founded the Black Queer & Trans Collective and co-led the President’s LGBTQIA+ Committee. KB served as Project Lead/Co-Editor for the benefit anthologies Winter Storm Project, Do You Want a Revolution, and Watch Dogs. They also facilitated a youth poetry film workshop on policing in Central Texas schools (which can be viewed here). They hosted a variety show to raise funds for gender affirming healthcare. Most recently, they successfully organized for the creation of the city of Austin’s adult poet laureate program. 

KB has earned fellowships and residencies from National Endowment of the Arts, Sewanee Writers Conference, Tin House, Lambda Literary, Civil Rights Corps, and elsewhere. Their poem “Good Grief” won the Academy of American Poets 2022 Treehouse Climate Action Poem Prize. KB has performed with The Moth, Texas Book Festival, and many other venues and institutions. They starred in an award-winning short documentary titled Earth To KB, which screened at 13 film festivals internationally. KB’s TV pilot, Church Girl, placed in Austin Film Festival and Writers X Writers’ 2024 Competitions. 

Currently, KB is an MFA candidate at The University of Texas at Austin; a City of Austin LGBTQ Quality of Life Commissioner; and a Sundress Publications Board of Directors member. When not working, KB enjoys reading, throwing a lil sumn’ on the grill, and sending memes to their spouse. Follow KB on Instagram, TikTok, Bluesky, and Substack at @earthtokb.