KNEE BRACE PRESS

A place for stories about chronic illness, disability, mental health, and neurodivergence.

Poetry

Submit your poem to Knee Brace Press! We welcome new voices and veteran poets alike.

Guidelines

All submissions must relate to chronic illness, disability, mental health and/or neurodivergence in some way. What that means is pretty much up to you. If you think your piece covers any of these topics, send it out way!

Our poems

  • A white woman with gray hair smiling with her mouth closed at the camera.

    Insanity Camp

    “I make light with a lantern made of papier-mache/It burns me as it shows the way/To a one-star resort with a welcoming glow/Leave the light on for me/Thinking makes it so.”

  • An Asian man smiling with his mouth closed and looking at the camera. He has short, black hair and is wearing a black shirt and glasses. He is standing against a white wall.

    The Trees

    In his poem, The Trees, Brian Lee muses on questions of nature, the human mind, and neurodiversity.

  • A white woman with shoulder-length light brown hair stands in a garden. She is smiling and wearing a blue dress with short sleeves.

    Try Not to Blink

    This poem by Jean Janicke reflects on hours at the National Eye Institute in a “natural history study” for her type of blindness.

  • A person with shoulder-length black hair. He is hiding behind a small bunch of white flowers.

    So

    •

    T.C. Long has also recorded an audio version of this piece, both to increase accessibility and to lend additional humanity and dimensionality to disabled folks in media.

  • A white person with long, blonde hair smiling at the camera. She is wearing a red and white plaid shirt.

    (DIS)ABILITY: A PALINDROME

    In her latest poem, Sarah Steinbacher offers us a different perspective on disability and those who would have her doubt herself.

  • A white woman with short, white hair reads a book at a microphone.

    Holding it Together

    “Grandma held us together/Small and wiry/a Granny Clampett/fortunately/without a rifle.”

  • A white person with long, blonde hair smiling at the camera. She is wearing a red and white plaid shirt.

    Let Down

    Sarah Steinbacher is a disabled nonbinary author, poet, disability advocate, instructor at The Writing Barn, and member of both SCBWI and Storyteller Academy.

  • The photo is in black and white and depicts a white person with long, dark hair smiling to the right of the shot.

    Box-bed in a Doorway

    Mandy Beattie’s poetry’s been published in Poets Republic, Drawn to The Light, Lothlorien, Ink, and now, Knee Brace Press!

  • A white woman with dark hair is smiling and looking off-camera. She wears a white, long sleeved shirt.

    Temporarily non-disabled

    “My body holds a secret. It demands/to tell me, but won’t whisper it to you.” Poet Christa Fairbrother is back with a piece about invisible illnesses and the pressure to hide them.

  • A white person with long, blonde hair smiling at the camera. She is wearing a red and white plaid shirt.

    All In My Head

    In her poem, Sarah Steinbacher writes about medical gaslighting, invisible disabilities, and the link between mental and physical health.