Synopsis: Winner of the 2022 Lexi Rudnitsky First Book Prize in Poetry. A bracing and candid voice, Jones' debut journals heart-wrenching realities—racism, poverty, addiction, incest—scrutinizing both love and betrayal in equal measure, whether at the level of one’s self, one’s neighborhood, or one’s nation. Gregory Pardlo praises, “the poems in…Jones’s large-hearted debut demonstrate that dignity is not a state of rest. It is a struggle that makes us present to our lives and everyone in them.”
Author Bio: Shawn R. Jones is the author of two chapbooks, Womb Rain and A Hole to Breathe. Her poems have appeared in Essence, New Ohio Review, TriQuarterly, and elsewhere. A graduate of the MFA program in Creative Writing at Rutgers-Camden, she grew up in Atlantic City, and lives outside of Philadelphia is southern New Jersey.
Date of Birth: Poems by Shawn R. Jones [For Book Review Consideration]
in Black Literature
Posted
Title: Date of Birth: Poems
Author: Shawn R. Jones
ISBN: 9780892555697
Date of Publication: April 11, 2023
Contact: Annalee Roustio aroustio@perseabooks.com
Synopsis: Winner of the 2022 Lexi Rudnitsky First Book Prize in Poetry. A bracing and candid voice, Jones' debut journals heart-wrenching realities—racism, poverty, addiction, incest—scrutinizing both love and betrayal in equal measure, whether at the level of one’s self, one’s neighborhood, or one’s nation. Gregory Pardlo praises, “the poems in…Jones’s large-hearted debut demonstrate that dignity is not a state of rest. It is a struggle that makes us present to our lives and everyone in them.”
Author Bio: Shawn R. Jones is the author of two chapbooks, Womb Rain and A Hole to Breathe. Her poems have appeared in Essence, New Ohio Review, TriQuarterly, and elsewhere. A graduate of the MFA program in Creative Writing at Rutgers-Camden, she grew up in Atlantic City, and lives outside of Philadelphia is southern New Jersey.
Cover artwork: Tajh Rust
Cover design: Small Stuff NYC