Alabama Names Ashley M. Jones As Its New Poet Laureate

 ========= Old Image Removed =========1Array
(
    [_wp_attached_file] => Array
        (
            [0] => 2021/08/Image_from_iOS_4-2-e1629990160377.jpg
        )

    [_wp_attachment_metadata] => Array
        (
            [0] => a:5:{s:5:"width";i:611;s:6:"height";i:344;s:4:"file";s:45:"2021/08/Image_from_iOS_4-2-e1629990160377.jpg";s:5:"sizes";a:7:{s:6:"medium";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:45:"Image_from_iOS_4-2-e1629990160377-336x189.jpg";s:5:"width";i:336;s:6:"height";i:189;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:9:"thumbnail";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:45:"Image_from_iOS_4-2-e1629990160377-140x140.jpg";s:5:"width";i:140;s:6:"height";i:140;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:9:"wbhm-icon";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:43:"Image_from_iOS_4-2-e1629990160377-80x80.jpg";s:5:"width";i:80;s:6:"height";i:80;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:20:"wbhm-featured-square";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:45:"Image_from_iOS_4-2-e1629990160377-600x344.jpg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:344;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:18:"wbhm-featured-home";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:45:"Image_from_iOS_4-2-e1629990160377-552x311.jpg";s:5:"width";i:552;s:6:"height";i:311;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:22:"wbhm-featured-carousel";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:45:"Image_from_iOS_4-2-e1629990160377-470x265.jpg";s:5:"width";i:470;s:6:"height";i:265;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:14:"post-thumbnail";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:45:"Image_from_iOS_4-2-e1629990160377-125x125.jpg";s:5:"width";i:125;s:6:"height";i:125;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}}s:10:"image_meta";a:12:{s:8:"aperture";s:1:"0";s:6:"credit";s:0:"";s:6:"camera";s:0:"";s:7:"caption";s:0:"";s:17:"created_timestamp";s:10:"1629972020";s:9:"copyright";s:0:"";s:12:"focal_length";s:1:"0";s:3:"iso";s:1:"0";s:13:"shutter_speed";s:1:"0";s:5:"title";s:0:"";s:11:"orientation";s:1:"0";s:8:"keywords";a:0:{}}}
        )

    [_wp_attachment_backup_sizes] => Array
        (
            [0] => a:8:{s:9:"full-orig";a:3:{s:5:"width";i:640;s:6:"height";i:428;s:4:"file";s:22:"Image_from_iOS_4-2.jpg";}s:14:"thumbnail-orig";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:30:"Image_from_iOS_4-2-140x140.jpg";s:5:"width";i:140;s:6:"height";i:140;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:11:"medium-orig";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:30:"Image_from_iOS_4-2-336x225.jpg";s:5:"width";i:336;s:6:"height";i:225;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:14:"wbhm-icon-orig";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:28:"Image_from_iOS_4-2-80x80.jpg";s:5:"width";i:80;s:6:"height";i:80;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:25:"wbhm-featured-square-orig";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:30:"Image_from_iOS_4-2-600x428.jpg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:428;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:23:"wbhm-featured-home-orig";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:30:"Image_from_iOS_4-2-465x311.jpg";s:5:"width";i:465;s:6:"height";i:311;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:27:"wbhm-featured-carousel-orig";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:30:"Image_from_iOS_4-2-396x265.jpg";s:5:"width";i:396;s:6:"height";i:265;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:19:"post-thumbnail-orig";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:30:"Image_from_iOS_4-2-125x125.jpg";s:5:"width";i:125;s:6:"height";i:125;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}}
        )

    [_media_credit] => Array
        (
            [0] => Jennifer Alsabrook Turner
        )

    [_navis_media_credit_org] => Array
        (
            [0] => BANG Images
        )

    [_navis_media_can_distribute] => Array
        (
            [0] => 1
        )

    [_wp_attachment_image_alt] => Array
        (
            [0] => Ashley M. Jones, Alabama poet laureate
        )

)
1663223489 
1629979804
Ashley M. Jones, Alabama poet laureate

Ashley M. Jones is Alabama's new poet laureate. She became the first person of color and the youngest poet ever appointed to the role.

Jennifer Alsabrook Turner, BANG Images

Ever since she read a poem about Harriet Tubman in elementary school, Ashley M. Jones has been writing poetry. She’s founded the Magic City Poetry Festival. She has a new book coming out in September. And her latest accolade: Jones is now Alabama’s poet laureate, a goal she has long wanted to achieve.

“I dreamed of being Alabama state poet laureate, U.S. poet laureate, a Nobel laureate. These are all my dreams since the age of four,” she said.

Jones was named the next poet laureate of the state during the Alabama Writers Cooperative’s yearly meeting on Sunday. She knew the commendation was in the works, but said it still felt surreal.

“I couldn’t help but feel like it wasn’t real life because so much work  culminated in this moment. So, I felt excited and scared and happy and just very humbled, honestly, that people would want me.”

At 31, Jones made Alabama history as the first Black poet laureate and the youngest. She said it shouldn’t have taken this long to appoint a person of color.

“I feel honored to open that door, but I also feel like I want people to realize that I shouldn’t have been the first in 2021.”

Alabama has had a poet laureate since 1930. Jones hopes that more people of color will be appointed to the position, and it can be a “normal thing that anyone can be a poet laureate and represent their people and their culture.”

Born and raised in Birmingham, Jones attended Epic Elementary, where she first fell in love with poetry. She was in the second grade when she had an assignment to memorize something and bring it to class to recite. Jones chose a poem out of a book she picked up from the library.

“It was called Harriet Tubman and it begins, ‘Harriet Tubman didn’t take no stuff, wasn’t scared of nothing neither. Didn’t come in this world to be no slave and wasn’t going to stay one either.'”

Jones remembers reciting the poem dressed as Harriet Tubman. “And I just felt this surge of power that I had never felt before.”

Jones said she’s been writing poetry ever since that day.

Now, she serves as a member of the creative writing faculty at the Alabama School of Fine Arts, giving back the power she once found through words.

As Alabama’s poet laureate, Jones will tour the state and make appearances at schools, universities, libraries and other state institutions, as well as give lectures, read poetry and hold workshops on a local and national level.

Jones already has a list of things she hopes to accomplish during her four-year term, including showcasing writers who are already in the state.

“It’s simply me being able to tell everybody, ‘Hey, y’all, this is what we’re doing here in Alabama,’ or even to connect communities within the state who may not know about each other and connect them to resources,” she said.

Jones said she is also eager to meet new poets and artists.”It always meant a lot to me as a young person to meet Black writers and see them doing things,” she said. “So, I’m really hopeful that just by being visible and doing my best job, I can maybe let some other person, young or old, know that they can also do what it is they dream to do.”

The news of Jones’ appointment as Alabama poet laureate comes just a few weeks before the release of her third poetry collection, “Reparations Now!

The book includes poems about racism in the United States, poems about her family, including her father who passed away earlier this year, and poems about Jones as a Black woman navigating her way through the country. 

“This book, I feel, represents me… unapologetically,” she said.

Here’s Jones reading “All Y’all Really From Alabama,” which is featured in her new book.

“Reparations Now!” is set to be released Sept. 7. She will officially take on the role as Alabama Poet Laureate after a commissioning ceremony at the state capitol in the coming weeks.

 

Bobby Hart, who co-wrote ‘Last Train to Clarksville’ and other Monkees hits, dies

Bobby Hart teamed with Tommy Boyce on such hits as "Last Train to Clarksville" and "I'm Not Your Steppin' Stone."

Emmys 2025: A running list of the winners

The Emmy Awards are underway. Seth Rogen, Ayo Edebiri, Colman Domingo and Pedro Pascal are all nominated for their performances on TV.

Australia approves vaccine to protect koalas from chlamydia

Chlamydia in koalas can cause blindness, infertility and even death.

Photos: See the red carpet looks at the 2025 Emmy Awards

Comedian Nate Bargatze is hosting the awards show, where Ayo Edebiri, Pedro Pascal, Keri Russell, Hannah Einbinder and Parker Posey are all nominated for awards

Charlie Kirk murder suspect set to face aggravated murder charge in Utah

The charge carries a potential punishment of the death penalty in Utah. Tyler Robinson, 22, is currently being held without bail.

Gen Z-led anti-corruption protests in Nepal put its first female prime minister in power

We look at recent upheaval in Nepal, where Gen Z protesters toppled the government, and put the country's first female prime minister in power.

More Arts and Culture Coverage