Ashley M. Jones was Poet Laureate of Alabama from January 2022 – January 2026. She was the first person of color and youngest person in Alabama’s history to hold this position, which was created in 1930. Jones is the author of four poetry collections, most recently Lullaby for the Grieving. She is the author of the essay collection WHAT THE MIRROR SAID: THE NECESSITY OF BLACK WOMEN IN POETRY, and she is the co-editor of WHAT THINGS COST: An Anthology for the People. Jones has earned fellowships and awards from many organizations, including SouthArts, Academy of American Poets, the Rona Jaffe Foundation, and the Alabama State Council on the Arts. Her poems are published in many journals and publications including POETRY, Academy of American Poets, The Nation, The Atlantic, and The Oxford American, and her work has been featured by outlets including PBS, CNN, The BBC, Good Morning America, ABC News, and the New York Times. Jones is the Associate Director of the University Honors Program at UAB, the executive director of the Magic City Poetry Festival, and she is a PhD student in English at Old Dominion University.