KB Brookins is an award-winning Black, queer, and trans writer, educator, and cultural worker.
Project Focus:
Through original composition, workshop facilitation, community curation, and public presentation, KB Brookins will draw attention to the human impact of pretrial detention in Texas jails, with a particular focus on Harris County.
Biography:
KB Brookins is a Black, queer, and trans writer, educator, and cultural worker 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 a Stonewall Honor Book Award. Their debut collection “Freedom House” won the American Library Association Barbara Gittings Literature Award and the Texas Institute of Letters Award for Best First Book of Poetry. KB’s memoir “Pretty” (Alfred A. Knopf, 2024) won the Great Lakes Colleges Association New Writers Award and the Dorothy Allison/Felice Picano Emerging Writer Award.
Website: https://earthtokb.com/
Social Media: Instagram, Tik Tok, Bluesky, and Substack
Previous Work Samples:
- Award-winning poem on Texas Winter Storm Uri
- Poem written after the 2016 election
- Poem written after Elon Musk moved to Austin
“I’m so excited and grateful to be an artist-in-residence with the ACLU of Texas! My project will include writing workshops, op-ed curation, and art events on pretrial detention in Harris County jails.
This work is so important to me. I hope to do my part in creating a world beyond carceral punishment.”