Natural History
Poems
Graywolf · Print & ebook · November 4, 2025
A unique work of science and poetry, winner of the Cave Canem Prize, selected by Natasha Trethewey A research biologist most recently at the Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin, Brandon Kilbourne illuminates the intersections between science and poetry in poems that demonstrate the wonder, curiosity, and precision required by both disciplines.
We earn from qualifying purchases.
- Who it’s for
- These poems examine biology’s colonial histories, fossil study, and an Arctic search for evolutionary evidence.
- Themes
- Science and poetry, Colonialism in biology, Fossil and evolutionary research
- Genres
- Nature Poetry, Natural History, American Poetry
Nearest books
Matched by what the books are about, then ordered by what their readers also loved. Most of these share its genre: Nature Poetry.
Shade Is a PlaceMaKshya Tolbert47% match
The Natural Order of ThingsDonika Kelly56% match
End of EmpireMarissa Davis57% matchAlso shares American Poetry
The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2025Susan Orlean, Jaime Green55% match
Nature's Last DanceNatalie Kyriacou55% matchAlso shares Natural History
How to Fly (in Ten Thousand Easy Lessons)Barbara Kingsolver54% matchAlso shares American Poetry
The New SentienceAshley Capps, Allison Titus54% match
Find Me As the Creature I AmEmily Jungmin Yoon53% match
For younger readers: Caves, National Geographic Book of Animal Poetry, Nature's Treasures
Start with three books, and this one can be the first.
Members get a new edition every morning: a route out from their books to essays, research and talks, with the reason for each.
Start with this bookAbout this book
A unique work of science and poetry, winner of the Cave Canem Prize, selected by Natasha Trethewey A research biologist most recently at the Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin, Brandon Kilbourne illuminates the intersections between science and poetry in poems that demonstrate the wonder, curiosity, and precision required by both disciplines.
Continue reading
Natural History opens by confronting the hidden histories within the study of biology and its links to colonialism, including the revelation that European scientists used slave ships to transport specimens from Africa and the Americas back to Europe. Across the collection, Kilbourne describes how these histories of exploitation are still reflected in dioramas of elephants, rhinoceroses, and African people displayed in natural history museums. Other poems narrate the intricate work of studying fossils, and a longer sequence recounts an expedition above the Arctic Circle to recover evidence of how a fish’s fins gave rise to the diversity of limbs found among amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. Natural History is a rare and fascinating debut, and Kilbourne’s exquisite eye brings the role of the working biologist to life.
Biology’s Hidden Histories
These poems examine biology’s colonial histories, fossil study, and an Arctic search for evolutionary evidence.
Come here for
- Biology’s colonial histories and museum dioramas
- Fossil research and an Arctic expedition
Expect
- Poems connecting scientific inquiry with poetic attention
- A sequence tracing evidence about the evolution of limbs
Where it sits
| Natural History | 42% |
|---|---|
| American Poetry | 40% |
| Nature Poetry | 38% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- American Poetry
- African American Poetry
- Nature Poetry
- Authors
- Brandon Kilbourne
- Publisher
- Graywolf
- Published
- November 4, 2025
- Format
- Print & ebook
- Theme
- Science and poetry · Colonialism in biology · Fossil and evolutionary research
- Reading lane
- American Poetry