Parneshia Jones

Parneshia Jones (August 1980) is a poet as well as editorial director at Northwestern University Press.

AnAffrilachian poet, Jones cites a one-on-one chance meeting with Gwendolyn Brooks, who had 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, published by Milkweed Editions in 2015. The collection won The Midwest Book Award and was chosen as "One of 12 Books to Savor" by O, The Oprah Magazine. In it, Jones reveals that her first name is related to Mount Parnassus.

Jones began her career in publishing as an intern at Third World Press, where she worked with Haki R. Madhubuti.

As editor for poetry at Northwestern University Press, Jones acquired Head Off & Split, which earned poet Nikky Finney the National Book Award as well as Finney's follow-up collection Lovechild’s Hot Bed of Occasional Poetry: Poems and Artifacts. She acquired Forest Primeval by Vievee Francis, winner of theKingsley Tufts poetry award in 2017. The following year, she acquired Incendiary Art by Patricia Smith, winner of theKingsley Tufts poetry award as well as theLA Times Book Prize. She has also worked with Kwame Dawes, Angela Jackson, Kyle Dargan, Karl Kirchwey, and Ellen Hagan.

Jones has received the Gwendolyn Brooks Poetry Award, a Margaret Walker Short Story Award, and an Aquarius Press Legacy Award.