KB Brookins

KB Brookins is a Black American author. Brookins is a 2023 Creative Writing fellow with the National Endowment for the Arts and the author of three books: How To Identify Yourself with a Wound, Freedom House, and ''Pretty: A Memoir.''

Early life and Career

Brookins was born and raised in Fort Worth, Texas. They attended Texas Christian University and graduated in 2017. Their work is often described as hopeful, unique, and candid.
Freedom House explores themes of race, transgender identity, and gentrification among others. 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." Freedom House won the 2024 Stonewall Book Award Barbara Gittings Literature Award and an award with the Texas Institute of Letters. It was named a best book of 2023 by Autostraddle, The Texas Observer, Ms., and Chicago Review of Books.
In 2024, Brookins published their debut memoir called Pretty. It has gotten favorable reviews in Kirkus Reviews and GLAAD among other venues. ''Pretty'' won the 2025 Lambda Literary Award in Transgender Nonfiction.

Brookins is non-binary and uses they/them pronouns.

“KB Brookins on T Shot #4”. Poetry Society of America. 2023
"Freedom House: A Sonic Bibliography". Oxford American. 2023
"Trans Texans Are Being Surveilled, This Is Everyone’s Issue". Autostraddle. 2022
"How Kendrick Lamar Stumbles Toward Queer And Trans Allyship On 'Auntie Diaries'". Okayplayer. 2022
"This Is What It's Like Going To The Gynecologist When You're Black, Trans And In Texas". HuffPost. 2022
"Why Coming Out to My Family Isn't on My Holiday To-Do List". Teen Vogue. 2021