Ashley M. Jones-Thompson, Birmingham-Based Poet, Receives Highest Humanities Honor Bestowed in Alabama

By Javacia Harris Bowser | The Birmingham Times

Birmingham-based poet, essayist and educator Ashley M. Jones-Thompson was recognized on Monday as a new Alabama Humanities Fellow by the Alabama Humanities Alliance (AHA) — the highest humanities honor bestowed in the state of Alabama. Jones-Thompson and others were honored on October 12 at the AHA Alabama Colloquium held at American Village in Montevallo.

“It means a lot as a poet to be recognized in the larger discipline of humanities because sometimes we fall through the cracks,” Jones-Thompson said of the honor. “So it feels good to be elevated to the larger discipline.”

When Jones-Thompson was appointed by Gov. Kay Ivey to serve as the state’s poet laureate, she made history, becoming the first person of color and the youngest to hold the position. While serving as the state’s poet laureate, a four-year position she held 2022-2025, she earned an Academy of American Poets Fellowship, through which she created an Alabama Poetry Delegation to support public poetry projects statewide.

Jones-Thompson is the author of four critically acclaimed poetry collections: Magic City Gospel, a love song to Birmingham; dark/thing, an in-depth look at perceptions of Black women; Reparations Now!, which delves into history and what is owed to the oppressed; and Lullaby for the Grieving, which explores the pain of personal loss. Most recently, Jones-Thompson released What the Mirror Said, an essay collection on the women poets foundational to her work.

Additionally, she’s the executive director and president of the Magic City Poetry Festival and currently serves as chair of the Creative Writing Department at the Alabama School of Fine Arts.

Considering America at 250

The 2026 Alabama Colloquium theme was Considering America at 250, and the Alabama USA Semiquincentennial Commission was also honored at the luncheon. Current Alabama Poet Laureate Jacqueline Allen Trimble introduced Jones-Thompson and said that the occasion of reflecting on America’s past and future made Jones-Thompson the perfect pick for this year’s fellows.

“She is a timely fellow for this year because her poetry often uses the past to examine our present and to consider our future,” Trimble said. “Ashley explores our ‘uncivil’ rights history as deftly as she does the reality of our relationships, communities, and democracy today. Her writing is vital as we consider our shared past, present, and future during America at 250.”

William “Bill” Baxley II was also recognized as an Alabama Humanities Fellow at this year’s event. Baxley was the youngest attorney general in the nation when he was elected to office in 1971. In that role, Baxley took on elements of the Ku Klux Klan, and his work let to the conviction of one of the perpetrators of the bombing of the 16^th Street Baptist Church.

Kathryn H. Braund, Hollifield Professor of Southern History Emerita at Auburn University, was also honored on Monday. Her work focuses on Creek and early American history in the South, and she has authored or edited some of the most important books on Creek-settler history in the Southeast region.

Jones-Thompson remarked on being honored alongside Baxley and Braund.

“I don’t know how I got here with y’all at all, but it just feels great to be recognized in my field and by my state,” she said.

‘The world needs more poets’

At Monday’s event, the fellows joined a brief panel discussion on topics including the value of the humanities, the richness of Alabama culture, and the role of education in the fight for social justice.

“The world needs more poets,” Jones-Thompson said during the talk. “When poets write and speak, everyone’s heart and soul is together. We are able to cut through some of the preconceived notions or feelings that we may have, say in a political sense… Poets can say the true thing and speak to the human spirit.”

Jones-Thompson remarked how supportive her fellow Alabamians were during her time as poet laureate. And when asked what she wants people take from her work, Jones-Thompson said she hopes her poetry reminds people that “we are all human.”

She added that she also hopes her words teach her readers something, and that change can happen through that learning.

“I’m a teacher by day, so I always hope that people are educated after they read my work,” she said, “and education can make way for a lot of justice.”

Learn more about the Alabama Humanities Alliance at alabamahumanities.org.