Ashley M. Jones, the Poet Laureate of Alabama, looks forward to sharing her poetry as part of the Hoag Lecture Series at the University of North Georgia (UNG). She will speak at noon Feb. 28 in the Library Technology Center room 382 at UNG's Dahlonega Campus.

Her poetry focuses on her identities as a Southern Black woman, as well as grief after the passing of her father in 2021.

"I'm hoping people walk away with a sense of togetherness, understanding all of us are human," Jones said. "I hope they learn something. My work talks a lot about history."

The poet said her audiences have particularly responded to poems inspired by her father's death, which grapple with loneliness, confusion and nostalgia in the face of grief.

Jones said poetry has taken her places she would have never imagined, from being a guest on "Good Morning America" to writing an episode in the PBS series "The History of White People in America." Her episode explored the journey of "an enslaved Black woman who sued and won her family's freedom in 1832," according to the PBS episode description.   

Jones is the first person of color and youngest to hold the position of Poet Laureate in Alabama's history. She authored three award-winning poetry collections, most recently "Reparations Now!" Jones is also co-editor of "What Things Cost: An Anthology for the People."

Her work has been featured by CNN, the BBC, ABC News, and The New York Times. Jones is the associate director of the University Honors Program at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and she is the executive director of the Magic City Poetry Festival. She is currently a Ph.D. student studying English at Old Dominion University.

Jones encourages UNG community members to learn more about her poetry on her website ahead of her Feb. 28 lecture.

"I first heard Ashley at a keynote at the Southeastern Library Association summer conference in 2024 in Huntsville, Alabama. She was eloquent, evoking and authentic. So we are excited to bring her voice to the UNG community for the Hoag Lecture Series," Linh Uong, UNG catalog metadata librarian and associate professor, said. "We have also partnered with the March 1 Dahlonega Literary Festival, where Ashley will be one of its featured authors. This year the festival will be celebrating its 20th anniversary with readers, writers and books from the Southeast region and beyond."

This marks the 28th year of the Hoag Lecture Series. The aim of the series is to reflect former UNG President Merritt E. Hoag's educational philosophy that higher education should educate students beyond the traditional classroom environment and enable them to develop intellectual fullness by encouraging learning in a variety of disciplines.