SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS

Thomas Kneeland standing at a podium, at the University of Indianapolis, wearing glasses, a checkered shirt, and a navy vest, with a microphone in front of him.

Author Visits

With more than a decade of experience in traditional and non-traditional K-12 education and higher education, Thomas is excited to engage with youth and adult learners about the ways creative writing and poetry shows up in all aspects of life.

Thomas Kneeland, wearing glasses and a blue checkered shirt with brown pants, reading a newspaper featuring Proof: A Midwest Lit Fest outdoors with trees, a lamp post, and with Indiana Humanities in the background.

Workshops, Readings & Craft Talks

Thomas is available for keynote and commencement addresses, college and university readings, and generative poetry workshops across secondary and collegiate classrooms.

His teaching and facilitation span a range of academic and community spaces, including the LEDA Scholars Program at Princeton University and Yale University, Summerbridge Louisville, Indianapolis Public Libraries, and Proof: A Midwest Lit Fest.

Thomas Kneeland, pictured with (from left to right) Leah Johnson, Chantel Massey, and Arriel Vinson.

Panels & Community

Thomas is available for panel conversations, roundtables, and moderated discussions at literary conferences, festivals, arts-related events, and academic gatherings.

Past panels include “Bringing Social Justice into the Writing Classroom” at the 2026 AWP Conference & Bookfair in Baltimore, Maryland, and “Literary Activism in the American South” at the Louisville Book Festival in Louisville, Kentucky.

AUTHOR VISITS

FOR HIGH SCHOOLS, UNIVERSITY CLASSROOMS, LIBRARIES
& NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS

Please Note: Full engagement with the following session options is contingent upon students’ access to We Be Walkin’ Blackly in the Deep prior to the visit. For this reason, institutions are expected to ensure that participating individuals have access to the text in advance of the engagement. This includes a coordinated book order for the classroom, course, or program.

  1. Becoming A Writer

    This interactive session is an exploration of Thomas’ journey, development, and identity formation as a writer. Through personal storytelling and a reading of selected poems, he shares the experiences, influences, and questions that have shaped his creative voice and artistic practice. The visit concludes with a Q&A and book signing.

  2. Rooted in the Deep: The Making of
    We Be Walkin’ Blackly in the Deep

    In this talk, Thomas invites his audience into the formation of We Be Walkin’ Blackly in the Deep through a performative reading of 4-5 selections from the collection and a discussion of the collection’s central themes including, but not limited to: Black Joy, generational trauma and healing, human rights, social action, and imagining futures. The session aligns with educational standards in reading, analysis, and evidence-based response, and will conclude with a Q&A—for further dialogue and discourse—and book signing.

  3. Generative Writing Workshops

    • Creative Writing as Social Justice: How can we begin to amplify our voices in a time of erasure and silence? This workshop challenges students to consider writing as both an act of witness and social action. Through examples of contemporary poetry and generative writing prompts, participants explore the ways in which language positions us as witnesses, confronts silence in the midst of unrest, and holds space for history as we look ahead.

    • On Earth as it is in Heaven, or the Necessity of Kinship: What does it mean to view others as kin? And how do we advance toward a renewed perspective of humanity in our current social climate? In this guided, generative workshop centered on humanity and care, participants will write and experiment with poetry as a vehicle for self-love, fostering community, and rewriting futures.

    • Imagining & Reimagining Ancestry Through Poetry: This generative poetry workshop will look at examples from the works of Black, Afro Latine, and Afro Caribbean writers such as Toni Morrison, Melania Luisa Marte, Christina García, and Saidiya Hartman, exploring the importance of ancestry, memory, imagination, and reimagination in poetic writing.

  4. Tailored Experiences (Create Your Own)

    If you feel that your classroom, library, or organization has more specific needs, please fill out the form and let Thomas know what you’re looking to accomplish.

BOOK THOMAS FOR YOUR NEXT EVENT!