Thomas Kneeland

Prairie Schooner Annual Award Winners Lawrence Foundation Award $2000 Skyler Melnick, "Sisterhood of Dirt," Fall 2025 Virginia Faulkner Awards $500 Morgan Christie, "Sapphire Gurl," Spring 2025 Ben Freedman, "That Summer," Fall 2025 Bernice Slote Award $500 Luca van der Heide, "Halina's Guest House," Fall 2025 Edward Stanley Award $500 Thomas Kneeland, two poems, Fall 2025

Prairie Schooner Annual Award Winners Strousse Award $500 Migwi Mwangi, "Like So, Like So," Fall 2025 Ervin and Loretta Krause Freedom of Expression Award $500 Ell Peck, "A Paper Lantern Over the Light: Becoming Blanche DuBois," Fall 2025 Jane Geske Award $250 Carolina Murriel, "Driving My Tías Through Miami," Spring 2025 Hugh J. Luke Award $250 Priyam Goel, "3 White Witches," Winter 2025

Prairie Schooner Annual Award Winners First Place Glenna Luschei Prairie Schooner Award $1500 Rebecca Lehmann, seven poems, Spring 2025 Glenna Luschei Prairie Schooner Awards $500 Fayssal Bensalah, ""Your Son Is with Pollen and Dust," Fall 2025 Virginia Kane, two poems, Winter 2025 Dominic Russ-Combs, "Faith," Winter 2025 George Uba, two poems, Spring 2025 Anthony Yarbrough, "Cruiser," Spring 2025

With generous supporters of the literary arts, Prairie Schooner was able to award 15 writing prizes totaling $8,250 for work published in 2025.

Award winners include @skyskkyy.bsky.social, @thomaskneeland.bsky.social, @ellgpeck.bsky.social, @rebeccaslehmann.bsky.social, and more.

go.unl.edu/bfya

Night Light poetry reading series #27 (November 2025) YouTube video by Poetry Books On Tape

cc: @djvorreyer.bsky.social, @jlmoultrie.bsky.social, @mayaweeks.bsky.social, @thomaskneeland.bsky.social

💡: youtu.be/Z64SbzRw--8?...

Haven’t been here in a while but I am accepting clients for manuscript consultations!

✅ Poem Packets for Journal Submissions

✅ Chapbook Length Manuscripts

✅ Full-length Manuscripts

Visit thomaskneeland.com/contact to inquire!

Let’s connect please!

Always OBSIDIAN AF.

— KNLND

#poetry #ancestryresearch #becoming #blackmen #blackpoets #blackfaculty #afrocentric #onsubmission #manuscripts

So not only is Cienfuegos looking for a home, but I’m also looking to read with other poets and writers who are in conversation about ancestry, ecological memory, and their relationships to intergenerational trauma as we navigate a society hellbent on convincing us that our stories don’t matter.

& now, two poems included here are going to be in the Prairie Schooner at a time when preservation of memory is so important. Gratitude is a continuous outpour in this season of life & I wouldn’t be here without God’s grace, protection & the village he’s assigned to my life to love me.

▪️a heightened confidence to reclaim an identity I never knew was a part of me (thank you, Patrick A.)

▪️reimagining the ancestors who found their way to the states and established a family that would become my inheritance (thank you Jaquira D.)

Speaking of histories & roadmaps & humanity:

This is my completed manuscript. Almost 100 pages of poems dedicated to:

▪️a better understanding of my identity, its multitudes, and the memory that is passed from generation to generation (thank you Monica Jo);

But this creative writing space also allows me to be a better professor, to brilliant students who deserve to know the histories—no matter how uncomfortable—that contribute to their existence, so that they can make their own, responsible & healthy conclusions on how to use humanity for veritas.

Creative Writing: It is one of the reasons why God has placed me on this earth, and I stand by that 100%. The words I write enter spaces I’ve only dreamed of (but will one day reach, myself), and they’re creating a roadmap—a narrative—for my daughter to follow one day.

Seventh Sermon on the Warpland for carrying the torch through the darkest times

Poets have always been the bearers of truth. We don't do this for fun.

open.substack.com/pub/thomaskn...

That's definitely me right now. I'm learning so much about where I come from just by filling each page with a poem...or maybe it's CNF/Poetry/Memoir/Fiction. Idk, but I like it.

writing is the best. one minute there’s a blank page & the next there are characters whose dreams, memories, desires, yearning, & heartbreak feel so real

Marítima El viaje de la vida requiere que sacrifiques algo por las respuestas que buscas. Señor Roberto once told me I’d have to give up something if I wanted to unlock the mystery of myself. When I first arri...

New poem-in-progress for those of you who love a good story

"Marítima"

open.substack.com/pub/thomaskn...

de esta américa a la nuestra américa Saying goodbye to what has been my home for the last thirty-three years seems traitorous.

It's hard to want to live in this country when the billionaires have all banded together to support the country's biggest threat who seems to be above the law.

I'd love for you to follow Thomas Kneeland Poetry on Substack!

"de esta américa a la nuestra américa"

open.substack.com/pub/thomaskn...

I find it hard to believe that those who find themselves in positions of power (and abuse said power) are ignorant of the meanings behind words like “Diversity” “Equity” and “Inclusion”.

I do believe, however, that they choose an arrogant ignorance—perhaps a god complex—because they fear truth.

You know what else pisses me off? Our bigot/idiot of a governor (state of Indiana) has defunded the ONLY Black University in the state, along with other programs that have historically helped our young learners have the tools they need to succeed and thrive.

You know what makes me tired beyond belief?

Knowing that there are people in this country who claim “Christian values” but have no ounce of empathy unless it feeds capitalist agenda.

I watched 47 and 47.1 (and their lil friends) scoff at a religious figure, as she pleaded for their mercy.

Our Emerging Scholars + Spring Academic Kickoff edition with stories on Coppin State University, UNCF, anti-racism/anti-oppression in education, and more, is out now!

Link to Access: bit.ly/3ZMAfq5
Subscribe to our Newsletters and Magazine: bit.ly/3ZMxZPy

It’s an honor to be one of 15 Emerging Scholars. Especially at a time like this, we need all hands on deck (in whatever form that takes) to keep our humanity intact.

a residency where someone teaches you how to sleep & then you wake up well rested with energy to read & write

Thankful for a good book and hot tea on a cold night like this one. The tag on my tea reads:

“In all things of nature, there is something of the marvelous.” — Aristotle

Let this be your reminder to remember who you are…You are—we are—truly something of the marvelous.

#selfcaretips #poetry

Hey there! In terms of WIP, I’m putting a decent amount focus on my next manuscript which is an extension of Cienfuegos. It focuses on the voice of my great-great-grandmother (or what i imagine it’d be like) and weaves in ecological memory, ancestry, and intergenerational trauma.

Hi everyone! My name is Arriel Vinson and my debut YA novel, UNDER THE NEON LIGHTS, publishes on 6/3/25 with @penguinteen. If you’re looking for a book about:

🛼 first love
✨ female friendship
🛼 building community
✨ complex family dynamics

then you’ve found it! 🛼🪩✨ Preorder here: bit.ly/3ZkVG3H

And this is why I’m writing about the ancestors I never knew.

"To survive, you must tell stories."
—Umberto Eco, The Island of the Day Before

#writingcommunity #writingquote

After several attempts over a period of 6 years, patience finally paid off. For an all too brief moment, Argentinian Patagonia's vast, breathtaking Perito Moreno glacier is dressed in the most beautiful light!

#photography #travel #nature #bluesky #landscapephotography #naturephotography #landscape

a cartoon of snoopy and woodstock sitting on a red box ALT: a cartoon of snoopy and woodstock sitting on a red box

Grab something to write with, and something to write on— I’m MxPrompt, and I have your #WritingPrompt for today.

(I won’t write it every time, I promise. For now, just say hi and let me know what you write! ✍️)

Hi! I’m Thomas, and I write poetry. I’m also taking a dive into CNF/Memoir/Hybrid.

Hello Bluesky! Excited to be here after the awful Zuck announcement, and happy to be in a Meta-less space. Looking to engage with folks who care about running, how food is grown, why wine is beautiful, and local Maine goings-on.