Parneshia Jones (born 1980) is an American publisher, poet, and editor.

Life

Hailing from Evanston, Illinois, Parneshia Jones grew up visiting her neighborhood library frequently. When she was in sixth grade, she wrote her first poem, about her brother. Through writing this first piece of poetry, she found her passion for writing and poetry. Jones graduated from Chicago State University with a Creative Writing degree and went on to get her Master of Fine Arts from Spalding University. She began her career in publishing as an intern at

Third World Press Third World Press (TWP) is the largest independent black-owned press in the United States, founded in 1967 by Haki R. Madhubuti (then known as Don L. Lee), with early support from Johari Amini and Carolyn Rodgers. Since the 1960s, the company ha ...

, where she worked with Haki R. Madhubuti. In 2003, aged 22, Jones became a marketing assistant for Northwestern University. As she continued to get experience at Northwestern University, she worked with many different writers. After a few years as marketing assistant, in 2019 she was made Editorial Director for Trade and Engagement. Through her work at Northwestern University, she was able to give People of Color more opportunities in the writing vocation. In September 2020 Jones was appointed director of

Northwestern University Press Northwestern University Press is an American publishing house affiliated with Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. It publishes 70 new titles each year in the areas of continental philosophy, poetry, Slavic and German literary criticism ...

. She is the second black woman to be a leader at a University Press in the United States. Parneshia Jones resides in Chicago, Illinois.

Work

Affrilachia Affrilachia is a term that focuses on the cultural contributions of African-American artists, writers, and musicians in the Appalachian region of the United States. The term "Affrilachia" is attributed to Kentucky-based writer Frank X Walker, wh ...

n poet, Jones cites her undergraduate experiences at Chicago State University, studying under important black writers and scholars Haki R. Madhubuti, Dr. Kelly Norman Ellis, Dr. B.J. Bolden, Dr. Donda West, and a one-on-one chance meeting with Gwendolyn Brooks, who reviewed and red-marked Jones’ early poems and encouraged her to continue writing, as a milestone in her writing and editing career. Jones is the author of ''Vessel'' (

Milkweed Editions Milkweed Editions is an independent nonprofit literary publisher that originated from the ''Milkweed Chronicle'' literary and arts journal established in Minneapolis in 1979. The journal ceased and the business transitioned to publishing. It relea ...

, 2015). In this verse collection tracing the intersections of her Midwestern and Southern histories, she documents familial memories; the love of place and food, and a black woman's experience; and reveals that her first name relates to

Mount Parnassus Mount Parnassus (; el, Παρνασσός, ''Parnassós'') is a mountain range of central Greece that is and historically has been especially valuable to the Greek nation and the earlier Greek city-states for many reasons. In peace, it offers ...

. The collection won The Midwest Book Award and was chosen as "One of 12 Books to Savor" by ''

O, The Oprah Magazine ''O, The Oprah Magazine'', also known simply as ''O'', is an American monthly magazine founded by talk show host Oprah Winfrey and Hearst Communications. Overview It was first published on April 19, 2000. , its average paid circulation was ...

''. Jones's work has been published in anthologies including ''The Ringing Ear: Black Poets Lean South'' (2007), ''Poetry Speaks Who I Am'' (2010), and ''She Walks in Beauty: A Woman’s Journey Through Poems'' (2011).

Career

At Northwestern University Press, Jones eventually assumed acquisitions duties. She has worked with esteemed authors of Nobel Prize, Pulitzer, Grammy, and National Book Award acclaim. Her acquisitions have included ''Head Off & Split,'' which earned poet

Nikky Finney Nikky Finney (born Lynn Carol Finney on August 26, 1957, in Conway, South Carolina) is an American poet. She was the Guy Davenport Endowed Professor of English at the University of Kentucky for twenty years. In 2013, she accepted a position at t ...

the

National Book Award The National Book Awards are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. The Nat ...

, and Finney's follow-up collection, ''Lovechild’s Hot Bed of Occasional Poetry: Poems and Artifacts''. She acquired ''Forest Primeval'' by

Vievee Francis Vievee Elaure Francis () is an American poet. She is an associate professor of English and Creative Writing at Dartmouth College. She earned an MFA from the University of Michigan in 2009, and she received a Rona Jaffe Award the same year. Viev ...

, 2017 winner of the Kingsley Tufts poetry award. The following year, she acquired ''

Incendiary Art ''Incendiary Art'' is a collection of poems written by American poet, Patricia Smith. It was published on February 15, 2017, by TriQuarterly Books, an imprint of Northwestern University Press. This collection was written as a response to the vio ...

'' by Patricia Smith, winner of the Kingsley Tufts poetry award and the ''LA Times'' Book Prize. She has also worked with

Kwame Dawes Kwame Senu Neville Dawes (born 28 July 1962) is a Ghanaian poet, actor, editor, critic, musician, and former Louis Frye Scudder Professor of Liberal Arts at the University of South Carolina. He is now Professor of English at the University of N ...

Angela Jackson Angela Jackson (born July 25, 1951) is an American poet, playwright, and novelist based in Chicago, Illinois. Jackson became the Illinois Poet Laureate in 2020. Biography Angela Jackson was born in Greenville, Mississippi, the fifth of nine c ...

, Kyle Dargan,

Karl Kirchwey Karl Kirchwey (born February 25, 1956) is an American poet who has lived in both Europe and the United States and whose work is strongly influenced by the Greek and Roman past. He often looks to the classical world for inspiration, with themes ...

, Ellen Hagan, and Nandi Comer. In 2019 Jones became a Visiting Writer in Residence at the Vermont College of Fine Arts. She has served as president of the Board of Directors of the Cave Canem Foundation, and is currently on the advisory board of th
ShoreFront Legacy Center
an organization and foundation that documents African-American history on Chicago's North Shores.

Awards

Jones has received the Gwendolyn Brooks Poetry Award, a Margaret Walker Short Story Award, and an Aquarius Press Legacy Award. She has received fellowships and residencies from the Ragdale Foundation, the

Lannan Foundation The Lannan Literary Awards are a series of awards and literary fellowships given out in various fields by the Lannan Foundation. Established in 1989, the awards are meant "to honor both established and emerging writers whose work is of exceptional ...

, the

Association of University Presses The Association of University Presses (AUP) is a membership organization of university presses, founded in 1937 as the Association of American University Presses. AUP has over 150 members including, Cambridge University Press, Johns Hopkins Unive ...

Princeton University Press Princeton University Press is an independent publisher with close connections to Princeton University. Its mission is to disseminate scholarship within academia and society at large. The press was founded by Whitney Darrow, with the financia ...

, and the Yale University Publishing Course.

References

External links

ParneshiaJones.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Parneshia Affrilachian Poets Poets 20th-century American poets 21st-century American poets 1980 births Living people American women poets 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers 20th-century African-American women writers 20th-century African-American writers 21st-century African-American women writers 21st-century African-American writers