Photo courtesy of Michal ‘MJ’ Jones
August 2026 | New York City, NY – Cave Canem and Northwestern University Press are delighted to announce Michal ‘MJ’ Jones’s of blue & bone as the 2026 recipient of the Angela Jackson Prize.
The Angela Jackson Prize, renamed in 2025 to honor Jackson’s innumerable contributions to poetry and Black literary communities, and in recognition of her tenure as Poet Laureate of the State of Illinois, has been a significant collaboration between Cave Canem and Northwestern University Press since 2009. The prize is awarded to an exceptional second collection by a Black poet from the African diaspora, and is offered every other year to celebrate and publish works of lasting cultural value and literary excellence. Past recipients include Vievee Francis, Reginald Harris, and Jonathan Moody.
Michal ‘MJ’ Jones’s of blue & bone is the second collection from the acclaimed poet, which reckons with the real-life horrors of the Hart family murder-suicide. On March 26, 2018, white wives Jen and Sarah Hart drove themselves and 6 adopted Black children off a cliff in Mendocino County, CA. A collection of documentary poetics, of blue & bone engages persona, ode, and lyrical poetry to reflect on the question, How could this have happened? Jones carefully studies the nuances and intersections of race, queerness, and class crucial to this work, employing delicate and powerful language to explore a devastating tragedy and attempt to make sense out of monstrous devastation. Vulnerable and raw, Jones cuts deeply through blue and bone.
Reflecting on the selection of of blue & bone, Prize Judge and namesake Angela Jackson said: “This book is full of surprises and rich with humanity. Delight and wisdom. This book will break your heart and open it.”
“This project began in a deep, wailing grief—a direct response to the real-life events of the Hart murder-suicide. My first child was 6 months old at the time,” said Jones. “In short, of blue & bone is a collection honoring the lives of Markis, Devonte, Jeremiah, Ciara Rose, Abigail & Hannah, and the families from which they come, and from which they were taken. Its publication affirms that the lives of Black children need to be exalted, and that systems failing our children must collapse. There is no place more fitting for these poems than Northwestern University Press & Cave Canem—both powerhouses of Black poetry and culture. I am overjoyed and deeply grateful to the incomparable Ms. Angela Jackson.”
For more information on the Angela Jackson Prize, visit https://cavecanempoets.org/programs/#prizes.
About Michal ‘MJ’ Jones
Michal ‘MJ’ Jones (they/he) is a poet, parent, and editor in Oakland, CA. Their debut collection, HOOD VACATIONS, won the 2024 Lambda Literary Award. They are also the author of a chapbook, SOFT ARMOR (2023), from Nomadic Press. A finalist of the National Poetry Series, MJ has received fellowships from VONA/Voices, Lambda Literary, and the Hurston/Wright Foundation. Often addressing & troubling aspects of life, violence, and identity, MJ’s work blends the lyrical, documentary, and confessional.
About Cave Canem
Cave Canem is a nonprofit organization committed to cultivating the artistic and professional growth of Black poets. Founded by artists for artists, Cave Canem fosters community across the diaspora to enrich the field by facilitating a nurturing space in which to learn, experiment, create, and present. Cave Canem develops audiences for Black voices that have worked and are working in the craft of poetry.
About Northwestern University Press
Northwestern University Press publishes works of enduring scholarly and cultural value, extending the university’s mission to a community of readers throughout the world. The Press has an international reputation for publishing in the fields of Philosophy, Russian and Slavic Studies, and Performance Studies, as well as fiction, drama, poetry, and works in translation. Prestigious authors published by Northwestern University Press have been the recipients of numerous prizes, including the Nobel Prize in Literature, the Pulitzer Prize, and the National Book Award.