Saeed Jones

Saeed Jones (born November 26, 1985)[1] is an American writer and poet. His debut collection Prelude to Bruise was named a 2014 finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for poetry. His second book, a memoir, How We Fight for Our Lives won the Kirkus Prize for Nonfiction in 2019.

Saeed Jones
Saeed Jones at BookExpo 2019
Saeed Jones at BookExpo 2019
Born (1985-11-26) November 26, 1985
Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Alma materWestern Kentucky University (BA)
Rutgers University–Newark (MFA)
Notable works
Notable awardsPushcart Prize

Early life

Jones was born in Memphis, Tennessee and grew up in Lewisville, Texas.[2] He attended college at Western Kentucky University, then earned an MFA in Creative Writing at Rutgers University–Newark.[3][4]

Career

Poetry

Jones released his debut poetry chapbook in 2011. Titled When the Only Light is Fire, it was the top-selling book in the Gay Poetry category on Amazon for several weeks.[4]

In 2014, Jones published his first full-length poetry collection, Prelude to Bruise. NPR called it "brilliant, unsparing," "visceral and affecting."[5] The Kenyon Review said the work "evokes a perilous, often mythic, eroticism within a brutalizing context of violence."[6] TIME Magazine recommended it as "an engrossing read best consumed in as few sittings as possible."[7] It was a 2014 finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for poetry.[8]

In September 2022, Jones published another poetry collection, Alive at the End of the World.[9][10]

Jones has been a winner of the Pushcart Prize, the Joyce Osterwell Award for Poetry from the PEN Literary Awards,[11] and the Stonewall Book Award-Barbara Gittings Award for Literature, and a nominee for the 2014 Lambda Literary Award for Gay Poetry. Jones has been featured on PBS NewsHour's poetry series[12] and on So Popular! with Janet Mock on MSNBC.[13] He was featured on the cover of Hello Mr. in 2015.[14]

Prose and other projects

Jones previously worked for BuzzFeed as the founding LGBT editor and its executive culture editor.[15][16] While at BuzzFeed, Jones cohosted BuzzFeed News' morning show AM to DM from fall 2017 until mid-2019.[17] Jones also wrote an advice column for BuzzFeed's READER newsletter entitled "Dear Ferocity."[18]

His memoir How We Fight for Our Lives was published by Simon & Schuster in 2019. The New Yorker called the book's tone and content "urgent, immediate, matter of fact".[19] NPR called it an "outstanding memoir" with "elements that profoundly connect him to poetry" and to "many of us who grew up dreaming of a chance at upward social mobility".[20] The book won the Kirkus Prize for Nonfiction in 2019 and a Lambda Literary Award in 2020.[21][22]

In 2022, Jones's interview with Debbie Millman was featured on the Storybound (podcast) season 5 premiere.

Jones is one of the hosts of the Vibe Check podcast.

Personal life

Jones lives in Columbus, Ohio.[23]

Jones was brought up to practice Nichiren Buddhism and still does today.[4]

Bibliography

Poetry collections
  • When the Only Light is Fire. Sibling Rivalry Press, 2011.
  • Prelude to Bruise. Coffee House Press, 2014.
  • Alive at the End of the World. Coffee House Press. 2022. ISBN 9781566896511.

In Anthology

  • Ghost Fishing: An Eco-Justice Poetry Anthology. University of Georgia Press, 2018.

Memoir

References
  1. Jones, Saeed [@theferocity] (November 25, 2014). "It's my birthday tomorrow. I'll be 29. So grateful hasn't killed me yet" (Tweet). Retrieved April 25, 2017 – via Twitter.
  2. Cochran, Jacoby (May 27, 2015). "Saeed Jones: Buzzfeed Editor, Poet, and Forensicator". Melo. Archived from the original on April 26, 2017. Retrieved September 20, 2016.
  3. Sacharow, Fredda (February 19, 2016). "Buzzfeed Names Rutgers MFA Graduate Executive Editor of Culture". Rutgers Today. Rutgers University.
  4. Gadson, Jonterri (2012). "An Interview with Saeed Jones". Eclectica Magazine. v16n1. Retrieved August 28, 2022.
  5. El-Mohtar, Amal (September 3, 2014). "Brilliant, Unsparing 'Prelude' Will Leave A Bruise". All Things Considered. NPR.
  6. Journey, Anna (Fall 2014). "On Saeed Jones's Prelude to Bruise". Kenyon Review Online.
  7. Feeney, Nolan (September 29, 2014). "Saeed Jones: "No One Is Safe" In These Poems". Time.
  8. Charles, Ron (January 19, 2015). "National Book Critics Circle finalists". The Washington Post.
  9. Gorham, Luke (August 26, 2022). "Alive at the End of the World". Library Journal. Retrieved October 6, 2022.
  10. "Saeed Jones Is 'Alive at the End of the World'". Shondaland. September 12, 2022. Retrieved October 6, 2022.
  11. Hertzel, Laurie (May 13, 2015). "Coffee House poet Saeed Jones wins PEN award". On Books. Star Tribune.
  12. van Wagtendonk, Anya (September 15, 2014). "Weekly Poem: Saeed Jones composes a 'Prelude' to one Boy's coming-of-age". PBS NewsHour.
  13. Mock, Janet (January 23, 2015). "'Prelude to Bruise,' the Poetry of Saeed Jones". So Popular!. Shift (MSNBC).
  14. Jones, Justin (September 26, 2014). "The Winning Gay Subtlety of 'Hello Mr.'". The Daily Beast. Retrieved September 20, 2016.
  15. Gross, Terry (November 7, 2019). "'We're All Struggling': Writer Saeed Jones Reflects On Identity And Acceptance". WVXU Cincinnati Public Radio. Retrieved August 15, 2020.
  16. "About Saeed Jones". poets.org. Retrieved August 28, 2022.
  17. Scire, Sarah (April 16, 2020). "BuzzFeed News shuts down AM to DM, its morning news show, after Twitter pulls funding". Nieman Lab. Retrieved August 15, 2020.
  18. "Hey, Did You Know BuzzFeed Has A Literary Magazine?". BuzzFeed. May 8, 2017. Retrieved May 29, 2020.
  19. Waldman, Katie (October 10, 2019). "Saeed Jones's Sensual Memoir of Race, Sex, and Self-Invention". The New Yorker. Retrieved August 15, 2020.
  20. Iglesias, Gabino (October 14, 2019). "'How We Fight For Our Lives' Is One Life Story That Finds Connection To Others". NPR. Retrieved August 15, 2020.
  21. Downing, Andy (October 24, 2019). "Columbus writer Saeed Jones wins the Kirkus Prize". Columbus Alive. Archived from the original on September 27, 2020. Retrieved August 15, 2020.
  22. Vanderhoof, Erin (June 1, 2020). "PRIDE MONTH EXCLUSIVE: The Winners of the 32nd Annual Lambda Literary Awards". Vanity Fair. Retrieved January 16, 2020.
  23. McGuire, Nneka (October 22, 2019). "Forget New York. For writer Saeed Jones, Columbus, Ohio, is the place to be a literary star". The Washington Post.
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