author of Lullaby for the Grieving
Keynote: October 23, 7:30 p.m.
Ashley M. Jones, the current poet laureate of Alabama, returns as our keynote author with her fourth collection of poetry, Lullaby for the Grieving. A native of Birmingham, Jones serves as Associate Director of the University Honors Program at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and is founding director of the Magic City Poetry Festival. She serves on the boards of the Alabama Writes’ Collective and the Alabama Writers’ Forum.
Her previous collections include Magic City Gospel, dark // thing, and Reparations Now! She is also author of the essay collection What The Mirror Said: The Necessity or Black Women in Poetry and the co-editor of What Things Cost: An Anthology for the People.
She has served as guest editor for Poetry Magazine and her work has been featured in many prominent magazines as well as on PBS, CNN, The BBC, Good Morning America, ABC News, and in the New York Times.
