Parneshia Jones facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Parneshia Jones
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Jones, Northwestern University Press, 2018
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| Born | July 1980 (age 44–45) Evanston, Illinois, U.S. |
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| Alma mater | Chicago State University; Spalding University |
| Employer | Northwestern University Press |
| Notable works | Vessel (2015) |
Parneshia Jones (born 1980) is an American publisher, poet, and editor. Her poetry collection, Vessel, won an award in 2015. In 2020, she became the director of Northwestern University Press.
Contents
About Parneshia Jones
Parneshia Jones grew up in Evanston, Illinois. She loved visiting her local library often. When she was in sixth grade, she wrote her first poem. It was about her brother. This first poem helped her discover her love for writing.
Education and Early Career
Jones studied at Chicago State University, earning a degree in Creative Writing. She then received her Master of Fine Arts degree from Spalding University. She started her publishing career as an intern at Third World Press. There, she worked with the writer Haki R. Madhubuti.
Working at Northwestern University Press
In 2003, when she was 22, Jones became a marketing assistant at Northwestern University. She gained a lot of experience working with many different writers. In 2019, she became the Editorial Director for Trade and Engagement. Through her work, she helped give more opportunities to writers of color.
In September 2020, Jones was chosen to be the director of Northwestern University Press. She is only the second Black woman to lead a university press in the United States. Today, Jones lives in Chicago, Illinois.
Her Creative Work
Parneshia Jones is known as an Affrilachian poet. This means her poetry often connects to the experiences of Black people in the Appalachian region. She says her time at Chicago State University was very important. She learned from famous Black writers and scholars like Haki R. Madhubuti and Dr. Donda West.
Her Book: Vessel
A special moment for Jones was meeting the famous poet Gwendolyn Brooks. Brooks read Jones's early poems and told her to keep writing. Jones's book of poems, Vessel, was published in 2015. In this book, she writes about her family memories. She also shares her love for places and food, and what it's like to be a Black woman. The book also reveals that her first name is connected to Mount Parnassus, a famous mountain in Greece. Vessel won the Midwest Book Award. O, The Oprah Magazine also chose it as "One of 12 Books to Savor."
Other Published Works
Jones's poems have appeared in several collections. These include The Ringing Ear: Black Poets Lean South (2007) and Poetry Speaks Who I Am (2010). Her work was also in She Walks in Beauty: A Woman’s Journey Through Poems (2011), which was put together by Caroline Kennedy.
Her Publishing Career
At Northwestern University Press, Parneshia Jones took on the job of acquiring books. This means she helped decide which books the press would publish. She has worked with many award-winning authors. These authors have won major awards like the Nobel Prize and the Pulitzer Prize.
Helping Authors Get Published
Jones focused on the TriQuarterly Books part of the press. She helped publish Head Off & Split by poet Nikky Finney. This book won the National Book Award. She also worked on Finney's next book, Lovechild’s Hot Bed of Occasional Poetry. Jones also acquired Forest Primeval by Vievee Francis, which won the Kingsley Tufts poetry award in 2017. The next year, she acquired Incendiary Art by Patricia Smith. This book also won the Kingsley Tufts poetry award and the LA Times Book Prize. Jones has also worked with other great writers like Kwame Dawes and Angela Jackson.
Other Important Roles
In 2019, Jones was a Visiting Writer in Residence at the Vermont College of Fine Arts. She has also been the president of the Board of Directors for the Cave Canem Foundation. This foundation supports Black poets. Currently, she is on the advisory board of the ShoreFront Legacy Center. This group helps record African-American history in the Chicago North Shores area.
Awards and Honors
Parneshia Jones has received several awards for her writing. These include the Gwendolyn Brooks Poetry Award and a Margaret Walker Short Story Award. She also received an Aquarius Press Legacy Award.
She has also been given special opportunities and support from different organizations. These include the Ragdale Foundation, the Lannan Foundation, and Princeton University Press. She also received a fellowship from the Association of University Presses and attended the Yale University Publishing Course.
