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Adam Levon Brown is an American Poet and Poet-researcher from the Pacific Northwest, base in Eugene, Oregon, whose work focuses on mental illness, trauma, addiction, and recovery.

 

Brown is an author and poet-researcher who has had over 320 literary pieces published internationally. Brown's signature confessional poetry is published in dozens of books housed with independent presses. Brown has also won as well as judged international poetry prize contests. He placed first place among 450 entries for The Blue Nib Poetry Chapbook Award, and was long-listed (top 1%) of 10000+ entries for the Erbacce Prize for Poetry in three different years. Brown's research works centered in Poetic Inquiry and phenomenology are slated to be published soon.

 

He Is the Originator of Vulnerability Variable Poetic Inquiry.

 

Brown's work is anchored in lived experience and radical honesty. His poems have been published in more than 100 international literary journals and magazines, and his books — now numbering more than 43 titles in poetry, memoir, and fiction — are held in libraries across the United States and available worldwide.

He founded his literary imprint, Madness Muse Press, in Eugene, Oregon in July 2016 with a mission to amplify voices affected by mental illness, addiction, and social marginalization. As an educator, he has guided more than 21,000 students through his flagship poetry course on Udemy, making him one of the most-enrolled poetry instructors on the platform.

 

Recognition & Achievements

 

Adam Levon Brown's work has received recognition at the national and international level:

• Blue Nib Chapbook Award — 1st Place (2019): Brown won First Place in the Blue Nib Chapbook Contest (Issue 5), an internationally adjudicated competition with 450 entries, judged blind by Paul Sutherland. His winning chapbook, Incidents, was published by The Blue Nib Press (Ireland/UK). This remains his highest single competitive credential.

• Erbacce Prize for Poetry — Longlisted (2019 & 2022): The Erbacce Prize, widely recognized as one of the most significant free-to-enter international poetry competitions in the world, selected Brown from fields of 8,000 (2019) and 15,000 (2022) global submissions — placing him in approximately the top 1% of entrants on both occasions.

• Into the Void Poetry Prize — Sole Judge (2019–2020 Cycle): Brown was selected as the sole judge of the Into the Void Magazine Poetry Prize, an international competition with cash prizes and blind submission via Submittable. The appointment was confirmed by Into the Void editor Philip Elliott and corroborated by the Oregon Poetry Association.

• Publication in Rust and Moth: Brown's poem I Watched was published in Rust and Moth, ranked #2 nationally in Clifford Garstang's 2026 Poetry Magazine Rankings — the most selective and Pushcart Prize–active journal in his portfolio.

• Critical Review in Kirkus Reviews: His collection Break: Poems on Mental Illness (Poetic Justice Press, 2019) received a full review from Kirkus Reviews, which called it "a stirring exploration of trauma and healing" and awarded the verdict GET IT.

 

Poetry & Books

 

Adam Levon Brown is the author of a broad and continually expanding body of published work. His books span multiple imprints and genres:

Selected Titles (traditionally published):

• Break: Poems on Mental Illness — Poetic Justice Press (2019) — Reviewed by Kirkus Reviews, The Prairies Book Review, and Midwest Book Review

• Klonopin Meets Sisyphus — Weasel Press (2019)

• Incidents (chapbook) — The Blue Nib Press (2019) — Blue Nib Chapbook Award, 1st Place

• Angelic Hymns of a Life Once Burdened — Cyberwit (2018)

• Embedded Memories of a Shooting Star — Transcendent Zero Press (2017)

• Locomotion of Life — Alien Buddha Press (2017)

• Death Is Not Our Holy Word — Alien Buddha Press (2017)

• Love Letters to a Ghost Named C — Madness Muse Press (2017)

Brown's poems have also appeared in Bodega Magazine (CLMP member, Brooklyn, NY), BlazeVox Journal (Buffalo, NY — alongside Eileen Myles, Rosmarie Waldrop), The Stray Branch (15 poems across three issues), Angel City Review (Los Angeles), Harbinger Asylum (Houston, TX), Mobius: The Journal of Social Change (Madison, WI — est. 1989), and dozens of other journals across the United States, Ireland, the UK, Australia, India, and Mauritius.

 

His work has been translated into Spanish, Albanian, Arabic, and Afrikaans.

 

Online Courses

 

Adam Levon Brown teaches poetry and writing online through Udemy and his dedicated course platform. His courses are designed for writers at every level — from complete beginners to experienced poets preparing to publish:

• How to Write a Winning Poem — Udemy's #1 poetry course in its category; 21,000+ enrolled students

• How to Write a Book: Writing a Book for Beginners — Thousands enrolled

• Start Your Poetry Career: Become a Professional Poet — Thousands enrolled

 

 

 

Spoken Word & Video

 

Adam Levon Brown brings poetry off the page through spoken word performances and video content, available on his YouTube channel. His performances explore the same themes that run through his written work: mental illness, resilience, identity, and the power of language to transform suffering into art.

YouTube: youtube.com/AdamLevonBrownPoetry

 

 

Madness Muse Press

 

Founded in July 2016 in Eugene, Oregon, Madness Muse Press was an independent literary imprint dedicated to publishing socially conscious poetry and prose. Under Brown's leadership as Founder and Editor-in-Chief, the press produced seven anthologies focused on mental health, addiction recovery, refugee voices, and social justice — with contributors from across the United States and internationally. Notable anthologies include Destigmatized Voices for Change and Voices from the Refuge.

 

 

Themes & Craft

 

Brown's poetry is characterized by short, sharp free verse — what Kirkus Reviews described as "quick, shattering bursts created by frequent line breaks." His central subjects include:

• Mental illness and psychiatric experience (Schizoaffective Disorder, anxiety, hospitalization)

• Addiction and recovery

• Childhood trauma and abuse

• Love, loss, and relationships (including LGBTQ themes)

• Social justice, urban life, and the immigrant experience

• Spirituality, the occult, and existential inquiry

His literary influences include Edgar Allan Poe, Lord Byron, Andrea Gibson, and Neil Hilborn.

 

 

Editorial & Academic Work

 

In addition to his creative output, Adam Levon Brown has worked as a freelance literary editor, with experience proofreading and critiquing poetry manuscripts, nonfiction books, and white-paper documents. He is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Creative Writing at Oregon State University (Honors College, expected January 2027), where his independent research explores the intersections of poetic inquiry, mental health, and addiction studies — a meta-methodology he terms XYUniPer.

He previously served as an SEO Writer at BlendTW (Los Angeles, CA, January 2020–November 2021), where he authored more than 20 high-ranking, search-optimized articles.