# Brandon Kilbourne Poetry ## Pages - [Contact](https://brandonkilbournepoetry.com/contact-updated/): Contact I enjoy giving readings, thinking of the intersection of art and science, and discussing all things museum. If you’d like to reach out to discuss my poetry, research, or experiences working in natural history, please use this contact form. I’ll get back to you as soon as I can. - [Interviews](https://brandonkilbournepoetry.com/interviews-2/): Interviews The interviews below offer insights into why I write, what I write about, and how I approach writing. Context for individual poems can also be found in some of these interviews. “Observation as Practice, Comparison as Dispatch”: A Conversation with  Brandon Kilbourne. Poetry Northwest 12 or 20 (second series) questions with Brandon Kilbourne. rob mclennan’s blog Meet Brandon Kilbourne, winner of the 25th annual Cave Canem Prize. Literary Hub LSU Vet School artist-in-residence: Talking poetry-science connection, wonder and more. Baton Rouge Advocate Commentary on “Blindfold Wonder” (part 1 , part 2). Obsidian Contributor Spotlight. Split Rock Review Gastronomy in […] - [Poems](https://brandonkilbournepoetry.com/poems-2/): Poems Having worked in natural history museums for over two decades, it seems inevitable that paleontology and zoology would find its way into my poetry. My poetry in particular explores the more hidden side of natural history, namely its connection to empire, colonialism, and slavery. A central question addressed by my poems on these topics is how to balance and reconcile our genuine wonder for the natural world with the at times brutal practices used to provide the knowledge underlying that sense of wonder. My poems relating to natural history also draw upon science and its practice to examine humanity’s […] - [Science](https://brandonkilbournepoetry.com/science-2/): Science My research explores the role of locomotion in vertebrate evolution. In particular, through biomechanics, I investigate how the laws and principles of physics relate to the anatomy of limbs and whether those laws and principles can potentially influence the evolution of adaptations for locomotion. In other words, how do the forces at play during locomotion (e.g., running, climbing, swimming, etc.) influence the structure of muscles and bones?   Most of my work has focused on mammals, but I have also worked on (non-avian) dinosaurs and birds, and my work has examined the relevance of limb size and shape for […] - [About](https://brandonkilbournepoetry.com/about-2/): About Brandon Kilbourne Photo by Jamila K. Grote Brandon Kilbourne is a Pushcart-nominated poet and biologist, whose work has appeared in Poet Lore, Obsidian, Ecotone, Terrain.org, West Trade Review, Split Rock Review, and numerous other literary journals. Writing poems intertwined with natural history, he has given readings at conferences on entomology, natural history, and paleontology in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada. Born in Louisiana, he earned his BS in Biological Engineering at Louisiana State University before earning his PhD in Evolutionary Biology at the University of Chicago. Having worked more than twenty years in natural history, he […] - [Home](https://brandonkilbournepoetry.com/): Winner of the 2025 Cave Canem Prize Natural History One of Smithsonian Magazine‘s Ten Best Science Books of 2025   Longlisted for PEN America’s 2026 Open Book Award Order Natural History Learn more about Cave Canem [comment]: # (Generated by Hostinger Tools Plugin)