Karl Knights
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inadarkwood.bsky.social
Karl Knights
@inadarkwood.bsky.social
720 followers 140 following 210 posts
Queer autistic writer with cerebral palsy. @inadarkwood from Twitter. My debut pamphlet, Kin (2022) is out now. Mostly screaming about the pandemic. He/him
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Karl Knights @inadarkwood.bsky.social · Jun 9
Very excited to say that my piece in the Poetry Foundation's series on places is live! A piece for pride, a piece for rural queers, a piece for my neighbour, and my Blythburgh self. Excited to have gotten a slice of a little seen Suffolk onto a world stage!

www.poetryfoundation.org/articles/169...
This Be the Place: My Actual Huh
Poems, readings, poetry news and the entire 110-year archive of POETRY magazine.
www.poetryfoundation.org
inadarkwood.bsky.social
Gutting to wake up to the news of Alice Wong's death this morning. She was always kind to me, and she stuck up for me and fought my corner more than once, when I was a near stranger. She's a marvelous writer, editor, advocate and thinker. Farewell, Alice. Thanks for your urgent, caring work.
November 15, 2025 at 12:05 PM
inadarkwood.bsky.social
Flabbergasted and pleasantly surprised to say the Poetry Foundation has chosen my essay as one of two nominees for the Best of the Net. My essay about a rarely recorded queer Suffolk being seen in this big a way is really touching. What a distance my Blythburgh doorstep has travelled!
The Poetry Foundation's nominees for the Best of the Net. On a red background is Mia You's essay, 'Poets on Translation: The Alter(native) Speaker' and Karl Knights' essay, 'This Be the Place: My Actual Huh'
October 17, 2025 at 6:07 PM
inadarkwood.bsky.social
Genuinely gutted to read that Brian Patten has died at 79. I adored his work, and his reading at Aldeburgh is still the best reading I've seen. He emailed me shortly afterwards, to wish me luck with my writing. Here's a favourite Patten poem, from Armada, without question his best collection.
Stepfather I cannot pick him out the air, he is not there, nor out the soil, the worm was not his style. I cannot pick him out the fire, there's not a cinder's worth left. So why do I still feel bereft when no love was lost? Perhaps for what might have been had he not been. In the coffin he seems a replica, a terrible dummy, still wreaking havoc, still beating up the living.
September 30, 2025 at 3:04 PM
inadarkwood.bsky.social
Sorry to hear that Tony Harrison has died. In a conversation with Simon Armitage, filmed by the BBC, Harrison spoke about how he regretted that he couldn't write anything his parents might've enjoyed until after they died. Here's one of the poems in memory of his dad, among his best work for me:
Long Distance II Though my mother was already two years dead Dad kept her slippers warming by the gas, put hot water bottles her side of the bed and still went to renew her transport pass. You couldn't just drop in. You had to phone. He'd put you off an hour to give him time to clear away her things and look alone as though his still raw love were such a crime. He couldn't risk my blight of disbelief though sure that very soon he'd hear her key scrape in the rusted lock and end his grief. He knew she'd just popped out to get the tea. I believe life ends with death, and that is all. You haven't both gone shopping; just the same, in my new black leather phone book there's your name and the disconnected number I still call.
September 27, 2025 at 1:38 PM
Reposted by Karl Knights
infinitescream.bsky.social
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH
September 24, 2025 at 7:49 PM
inadarkwood.bsky.social
Neurodivergent writers, how do you guard against procrastinating immensely? I'll have a writing room for a month soon. I usually write in dribs and drabs, amidst the hubbub of life. I've never had such a large slab of time solely for writing. How to make sure I don't dawdle the time away?
August 28, 2025 at 8:48 PM
inadarkwood.bsky.social
Difficult to express how much I despise seeing this note on AI use underneath a BBC News article, and not for the first time.
Text on a white background which reads, 'BBC News used AI to help write the summary at the top of this article. It was edited by BBC journalists. Find out more'
August 14, 2025 at 6:14 PM
inadarkwood.bsky.social
Two poems from Anna Świrszczyńska (known to American readers as Anna Swir) from her astonishing book, Building the Barricade, an account of the Warsaw Uprising. The poems, translated here by Piotr Florczyk, speak so painfully to the genocide and forced starvation happening right now in Gaza.
Lives One More Hour The child is two months old. The doctor says: without milk, the child will die. Mother wanders all day through basements to the other side of town. In Czerniakow a baker has a cow. Mother crawls on her stomach among rubble, mud, corpses. She brings back three spoons of milk. The child lives one more hour. Two Potatoes I carried two potatoes a woman came up to me. She wants to buy two potatoes she had children. I didn't give her two potatoes I hid two potatoes. I had a mother.
August 3, 2025 at 9:34 PM
inadarkwood.bsky.social
Farewell to Allan Ahlberg, at age 87. Here's a favourite poem, from 1983's Please Mrs Butler. The illustration is by Fritz Wegner. Ahlberg poems are often funny, but underpinning every word and line break is a very deep sympathy for the pains of childhood that never wavers, as in this poem.
Slow Reader I - am - in - the - slow read-ers -group - my -broth - er - is - in - the -foot ball - team - my - sis -ter is - a - ser - ver - my lit - tle- brother - er - was a - wise - man - in - the in - fants - christ - mas - play I - am - in - the - slow read - ers - group - that is all - I - am - in - I hate - it. A picture below the poem shows a show hunched over a book. Between two clocks, the words 'I am in the slow readers' floats above his head.
July 31, 2025 at 8:53 PM
inadarkwood.bsky.social
A long shot, but I'll give it a whirl - do I know anyone at Princeton University? I'm looking to unearth the story of a rare, historical memoir from a queer writer in my hometown, but the papers are much larger than I anticipated, and the first 300 pages are free to students and faculty
July 26, 2025 at 2:35 PM
inadarkwood.bsky.social
Look Ma, it's me (bottom left) with the mighty Bloodaxe 🙏 Being in a Bloodaxe anthology has been on my bucket list for as long as I've been a writer. We did it! And I'm in great company, too. Special thanks to Rachael and Bloodaxe for putting this reading together, and making an essential book
bloodaxebooks.bsky.social Bloodaxe Books @bloodaxebooks.bsky.social · Jul 22
Now on our Vimeo: a new compilation video for our Versus Versus anthology, featuring 23 of the contributing poets reading their work: vimeo.com/1102502312

Versus Versus: 100 Poems by Deaf, Disabled & Neurodivergent Poets, edited by Rachael Boast - www.bloodaxebooks.com/ecs/product/...
July 22, 2025 at 6:53 PM
inadarkwood.bsky.social
Farewell, Fanny Howe. Here's the poem of hers I see most often on socials, 25 years after publication. Go read the poems, and have a go at writing your own list of things you love
I Won't Be Able to Write from the Grave By Fanny Howe I won't be able to write from the grave so let me tell you what I love: oil, vinegar, salt, lettuce, brown bread, butter, cheese andn wine, a windy day, a fireplace, the children nearby, poems and songs, a friend sleeping in my bed - and the short northern nights.
July 9, 2025 at 4:34 PM
inadarkwood.bsky.social
I've debated whether to say anything about it, but I didn't get anything for my birthday, or any cards etc, for the second year in a row. Not mentioning it to raise a 'woe is me' story, but more because I suspect isolated birthdays are much more common than they might seem at first.
July 9, 2025 at 3:11 PM
inadarkwood.bsky.social
I don't usually get too personal on socials (I usually focus on commenting on other things), but it is my birthday once more and I want to say, especially to queer people who are estranged entirely from their families as I am, that you aren't entirely alone in finding birthdays hard to take.
July 8, 2025 at 10:57 AM
inadarkwood.bsky.social
Haven't remembered to share archival queer Suffolk stories for pride until this very moment. Here's one of my fav recent finds, an article from BBC Suffolk, 2005. It's by Kirsty, and the article is called 'A Suffolk T Girl'. Happy pride, Kirsty. 🏳️‍🌈

www.bbc.co.uk/suffolk/cont...
Alongside the article, a pictures shows Kirsty, a white woman with shoulder length blonde hair, leaning on a bar top. She's wearing a red, summery shirt and bleached jeans. The article reads, For those of you however who may be feeling fearful, lonely, or looking for help and advice or even friendship, then this page may provide some assistance. Hopefully, this will put you in touch with those who care and understand. I know; I was once a closet ‘tranny’ myself, scared of being discovered and with no-one to turn to. Thankfully, things have moved on a long way since then. I have, like so many, discovered my true identity and now live life to the full, enjoying the company of other like minded friends. There are many on-line moderated groups where you will find help, can share your experiences, learn from others or even buy all your girlie needs if you haven’t yet plucked up the courage to hit the high street. If like me, you are into meeting others and making some great friends, there are a number of pubs and clubs which provide regular and safe, discreet facilities. Most will either provide TG only nights or maybe shared with the Gay & Lesbian community. In both cases and as far as East Anglia goes unfortunately, Suffolk is not yet well serviced so currently, you may need to look slightly further afield. Whilst Suffolk is proud to say it is one of the safest counties in the country, we would like to hear of any instances of abuse, verbal or otherwise. Any form of discrimination is unacceptable and the TG community has as much right to live in peace and safety as any other.
June 30, 2025 at 12:54 PM
inadarkwood.bsky.social
Farewell to Bill Moyers, who's died at 91. He's one of the very few journalists I know who was entirely comfortable talking to poets about their work. First and foremost he was a fan, and he interviewed scores of poets. Thanks for the words you asked about so well and so often, Bill.
June 27, 2025 at 5:02 PM
inadarkwood.bsky.social
Weighing up buying more copies of my pamphlet and thinking about how many I'd sell these days, and feeling a fresh rage at the absolute melts who torched the social media where my connections were, making them effectively unusable and little more than a stream of AI pics and bot slop replies.
June 14, 2025 at 7:01 PM
inadarkwood.bsky.social
Wonderfully strange and heartening to see my essay in the Poetry Foundation's newsletter that's just gone out, landing in inboxes all over the globe. What a distance for a Blythburgh doorstep to travel! I'm grateful that a little seen side of Suffolk can go galavanting around, finding readers. 🙏
A snippet from the Poetry Foundation's newsletter. Under the headline, 'Essay' is Karl's work, 'This Be the Place: My Actual Huh'. The preview text reads, 'A tractor has as much right to be in a queer poem as a Fire Island reverie.'
June 11, 2025 at 3:37 PM
inadarkwood.bsky.social
Thanks for all the love on the This Be the Place essay, folks. It's on the front page of the Poetry Foundation right now, and you can read it here. The messages people have written so far mean more to me than I can say.

www.poetryfoundation.org/articles/169...
A screenshot of the Poetry Foundation's post of Karl's article, 'This Be the Place: My Actual Huh'. The extract reads, 'The garden path was the first whisper of gay I heard in Suffolk. The stones seemed to say that a queer life could exist here, between the apple tree and the washing line. These paving stones, this handful of decorative pebbles, was the first smidge of a rainbow in my life, a touch of pride.' The post ends with, 'Karl Knights on discovering queer rural life.'
June 11, 2025 at 1:10 PM
Reposted by Karl Knights
ofpoetrypodcast.bsky.social
“What’s a poem, after all, but an attempt to talk to a stranger?”

Recent @ofpoetrypodcast.bsky.social guest Karl Knights (@inadarkwood.bsky.social)
has a new essay today on rural queerness and poetry at Poetry Foundation’s This Be the Place series! 🏳️‍🌈 📚💙
This Be the Place: My Actual Huh
Poems, readings, poetry news and the entire 110-year archive of POETRY magazine.
www.poetryfoundation.org
June 9, 2025 at 3:50 PM
inadarkwood.bsky.social
Very excited to say that my piece in the Poetry Foundation's series on places is live! A piece for pride, a piece for rural queers, a piece for my neighbour, and my Blythburgh self. Excited to have gotten a slice of a little seen Suffolk onto a world stage!

www.poetryfoundation.org/articles/169...
This Be the Place: My Actual Huh
Poems, readings, poetry news and the entire 110-year archive of POETRY magazine.
www.poetryfoundation.org
June 9, 2025 at 3:56 PM
inadarkwood.bsky.social
New poem alert! I'm in @eff-able.bsky.social, thanks to George and JP for inviting me along. Here are the first two lines of a double sonnet, a very Suffolk take on hookups (after all, what's hotter than a three hour bus ride to cover a spitting distance?) Grateful to be part of this urgent project
A white hand holding a book in front of a bookshelf. The book is Eff-able: a spicy anthology of queer crip poetry. The cover shows someone bearing their neck, holding their head high, in infra red light. A snippet of a poem by Karl Knights, called 'What Gay Porn Doesn't Show.' The first two lines read, The ultimate tease, the three-hour bus trip give or take thirty minutes, to his front door.
June 7, 2025 at 2:16 PM
Reposted by Karl Knights
roxiqt.com
Happy Pride Month to everyone else who is also chronically ill and high risk and unable to participate in Pride Month festivities because folks won't mask. I see you. Your love is still valid. And to everyone else who can safely attend events this month, please mask up.
June 2, 2025 at 2:16 AM
inadarkwood.bsky.social
If you're on Insta, in response to the appalling cuts to PiP and Access to Work, Hot Coals Productions have reshared a short film I wrote called Indefinitely, a cry from the heart of the benefits system, pushing against all too familiar 'scrounger' headlines.

www.instagram.com/hotcoalsprod...
Hot Coals Productions on Instagram: "Here it is folks - Indefinitely Written by Karl Knights Directed by @clare_lo_english This Film was made by an entirely DDN freelancing team. We are putting th...
16 likes, 3 comments - hotcoalsproductions on May 30, 2025: "Here it is folks - Indefinitely Written by Karl Knights Directed by @clare_lo_english This Film was made by an entirely DDN freelancing t...
www.instagram.com
May 30, 2025 at 3:17 PM
inadarkwood.bsky.social
Want to read a new-ish poem by me? Well you're in luck, my poem from He / She / They / Us: Queer Poems is available via the Google Books preview, as I'm the fourth poem in the anthology. Some lines are indented, but on the whole the poem is intact!

www.google.co.uk/books/editio...
He, She, They, Us
A poetry book like no other, He, She, They, Us pulls together poems from queer poets both old and new – from Oscar Wilde, Emily Dickinson and Langston Hughes to the likes of Jay Hulme, Dean Atta, Josi...
www.google.co.uk
May 23, 2025 at 5:35 PM