Upon her appointment as director in September 2020, Parneshia Jones became one of only two Black women currently leading a university press. Prior to becoming director, Jones was editorial director for trade and engagement at Northwestern University Press (NUP), which is the scholarly and trade publishing arm of Northwestern University. Jones earned her B.A. in English/creative writing at Chicago State University, an M.F.A from Spalding University and completed the Yale Publishing Course. She has also served as an acquisitions editor and sales manager at NUP. A published poet, Jones revitalized the press’s TriQuarterly imprint, developing its award-winning poetry list with acquisitions including Head Off & Split by Nikky Finney, winner of the 2011 National Book Award; Incendiary Art by Patricia Smith, winner of the 2018 Los Angeles Times Book Prize and 2017 Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award; Forest Primeval by Vievee Francis, winner of the 2016 Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award; and Anagnorisis by Kyle Dargan, winner of the 2019 Academy of American Poets Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize.
