KB Brookins & Joaquin Zihuatanejo Reading and Conversation at Deep Vellum

Come join us for a double feature event with award winning poets and authors, KB Brookins and Joaquin Zihuatanejo in conversation in celebration of the launch of Brookins’ memoir, Pretty!

KB BROOKINS is a Black, queer, and trans writer and cultural worker from Texas. They are the author of Freedom House and How to Identify Yourself with a Wound. Brookins has poems, essays, and installation art published in Academy of American Poets, Teen Vogue, Poetry Magazine, Prizer Arts & Letters, Okayplayer, Poetry Society of America, Autostraddle, and other venues. They have earned fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, PEN America, Equality Texas, and others.

JOAQUIN ZIHUATANEJO is a poet, spoken word artist, and award-winning teacher. Born and raised in the barrio of East Dallas, in his work Joaquín strives to capture the duality of the Chicano culture. He’s been called, “one of the most dynamic and passionate performance poets in the country, melding equal parts comedy, poetry, and dramatic monologue into a crowd-pleasing display of verbal fireworks… always thrilling, Joaquín’s hilariously manic presentation is full of compassion and nuance, never sacrificing substance for style.” Joaquin was a National Poetry Slam Finalist, a Grand Slam Spoken Word Champion, HBO Def Poet, and inaugural Poet Laureate of Dallas, performing at universities, conferences and poetry slams all over the North America and Europe.