Results by title

Winner of the 2026 Cave Canem Angela Jackson Prize

The second collection from acclaimed poet Michal “MJ” Jones, of blue & bone reckons with the Hart family murder-suicide. On March 26, 2018, white wives Jen and Sarah Hart drove themselves and their six adopted Black children—Markis, Hannah, Devonte, Jeremiah, Abigail, and Ciera Rose—off a cliff in Mendocino County, California. Before this tragedy and while the families of origin battled to keep their children, the Harts evaded culpability for over a decade of child abuse, protected under the guise of innocence and privilege. 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 question, employing delicate and powerful language to explore a devastating tragedy and attempt to make sense out of monstrous devastation. Vulnerable and raw, this collection cuts deeply through blue and bone.