© Camille Lenain

Biography

One of the most honored poets of his generation, Rodney Jones has been praised for his narrative and lyrical skills, as well as the empathy, intelligence, accessibility, and original humor of his work. He is the author of 11 poetry books, including Salvation Blues, winner of the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award, and Elegy for the Southern Drawl, a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. In 2016, he became the second poet to be inducted into the Alabama Writers Hall of Fame.

Schedule

10:15 am to 11:15 am
State Library, Fifth Floor, Capitol View Room
The Louisiana Poet Laureate Presents Louisiana Poets
with Gina Ferrara, Rodney Jones, Christine Kwon, Justin Lacour, Martha McFerren, Genaro Kỳ Lý Smith, and Louisiana Poet Laureate Alison Pelegrin

11:30 am to 12:15 pm
Cavalier House Books Tent
Book Signing

Alabama: Poems

Alabama focuses on a boy from a rural, fundamentalist community who becomes a pacifist, feminist, and existentialist poet. Labyrinth, meditation, fable, and peasant poem, formed from interleaved strands of prose vignettes and lineated poetry, this collection is at once a tale of cultural exile and familial loyalty, and an unflinching look at regional shame that doubles as a love story, all expressed with the intimate voice and vision of Rodney Jones.