poet
A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems ( oral or wri ...
and retired professor of English at
Southern Illinois University
Southern Illinois University is a system of public universities in the southern region of the U.S. state of Illinois. Its headquarters is in Carbondale, Illinois.
Board of trustees
The university is governed by the nine member SIU Board of Tr ...
Falkville, Alabama
Falkville is a town in Morgan County, Alabama, United States, and is included in the Decatur Metropolitan Area and Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistical Area. As of the 2020 census, the population of the town was 1,197.
Falkville incorporate ...
, gained a B.A. in 1971 at the
University of Alabama
The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and largest of the publi ...
and an M.F.A. at the
University of North Carolina
The University of North Carolina is the multi-campus public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the NC School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referred to as the UNC Sy ...
in 1973. He taught poetry at high schools in Tennessee, Alabama and Virginia from 1974 to 1978 and then became a writer in residence at
Virginia Intermont College
Virginia Intermont College (VI) was a private college in Bristol, Virginia. Founded in 1884 to create additional education opportunities for women, the college had been coeducational since 1972. It experienced significant financial difficulties du ...
from 1979 to 1984. He was finally appointed Professor of English at the
Southern Illinois University
Southern Illinois University is a system of public universities in the southern region of the U.S. state of Illinois. Its headquarters is in Carbondale, Illinois.
Board of trustees
The university is governed by the nine member SIU Board of Tr ...
in Carbondale. He retired in 2012.
Jones was named a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the winner of the 1989
National Book Critics Circle Award
The National Book Critics Circle Awards are a set of annual American literary awards by the National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) to promote "the finest books and reviews published in English".Guggenheim Fellowship (1985), the Peter I.B. Lavan Award from the
Academy of American Poets
The Academy of American Poets is a national, member-supported organization that promotes poets and the art of poetry. The nonprofit organization was incorporated in the state of New York in 1934. It fosters the readership of poetry through outreach ...
, the Jean Stein Award from the
American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters
The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, music, and art. Its fixed number membership is elected for lifetime appointments. Its headq ...
, a Southeast Booksellers Association Award, and a Harper Lee Award.
Bibliography
* ''The Story They Told Us of Light'' (1980)
* ''The Unborn'' (1985)
* ''Transparent Gestures'' (1989)
* ''Apocalyptic Narrative'' (1993)
* ''Things That Happen Once'' (1996)
* ''Elegy for the Southern Drawl'' (1999)
* ''Kingdom of the Instant: Poems'' (2004)
* ''Salvation Blues'' (2006) (winner of the
Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award
The Kingsley and Kate Tufts Poetry Awards are a pair of American prizes based at Claremont Graduate University. They are given to poets for their collections of poetry written in the English language, by a citizen or legal resident alien of the ...
, shortlisted for the 2007 International
Griffin Poetry Prize
The Griffin Poetry Prize is Canada's most generous poetry award. It was founded in 2000 by businessman and philanthropist Scott Griffin.
Before 2022, the awards went to one Canadian and one international poet who writes in the English language. ...