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A Conversation with Angela Jackson and Parneshia Jones
April 6, 2021 @ 3:00 pm–4:00 pm
Where do we go from here? A Conversation with Angela Jackson ’77 and Parneshia Jones
This event is held in conjunction with National Poetry Month.
Join the Northwestern Alumni Association and Northwestern University Libraries for a virtual conversation between Illinois Poet Laureate, Angela Jackson ’77, and editor and Northwestern University Press director, Parneshia Jones. In commemoration of National Poetry Month, they will discuss what it means to assume roles in direct conversation with the arts and humanity during a pandemic, and why poetry is vital in times of crisis. Both Jackson and Jones will also read from their most recent works and discuss their 10-year relationship as author and editor.
This event will be using the Zoom webinar platform and registrants will receive a link to the event upon registration.
Northwestern strives to host inclusive, accessible events that enable all individuals, including those with disabilities, to engage fully. Please email alumnieducation@northwestern.edu to request a disability accommodation.
About the Presenters:
Angela Jackson ’77
Award-winning poet, novelist and playwright
Angela Jackson is an award-winning poet, novelist, and playwright who has published three chapbooks and four volumes of poetry. Born in Greenville, Mississippi and raised on Chicago’s Southside, she was educated at Northwestern University and the University of Chicago.
Jackson’s collections of poetry include Voo Doo/Love Magic (1974); Dark Legs and Silk Kisses: The Beatitudes of the Spinners (TriQuarterly, 1993); And All These Roads Be Luminous: Poems Selected and New (TriQuarterly, 1998), which was nominated for the National Book Award; and It Seems Like a Mighty Long Time (TriQuarterly, 2015), nominated for the Pulitzer Prize and the PEN/Open Book Award and a finalist for the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award and the Milt Kessler Poetry Prize. Jackson received a Pushcart Prize and an American Book Award for her chapbook Solo in the Boxcar Third Floor E (1985). Jackson’s forthcoming collection, More Than Meat and Raiment: Poems, will be published by Northwestern University Press in 2022.
Parneshia Jones
Author, Director, Northwestern University Press
Parneshia Jones is the author of Vessel: Poems (Milkweed Editions), winner of the Midwest Book Award and featured as one of “12 Books to Savor” by O, The Oprah Magazine. Jones has been honored with the Gwendolyn Brooks Poetry Award, the Margaret Walker Short Story Award, and the Aquarius Press Legacy Award. Named one of the “25 Writers to Watch” by the Guild Complex and one of “Lit 50: Who Really Books in Chicago” by Newcity Magazine, her work has appeared in anthologies including, She Walks in Beauty: A Woman’s Journey Through Poems and The Ringing Ear: Black Poets Lean South. Jones has been featured on PBS Newshour, the Academy of American Poets, and espnW.
She is the Director of Northwestern University Press. Her acquisitions have garnered some of the highest literary honors, including the National Book Award, Kingsley Tufts, Pulitzer Prize finalists, Hurston Wright Legacy Awards, NAACP Image Awards, L.A. Times Book Award, and others.