Life

Roger Jones received his B.A. and M.A. at Sam Houston State University

Sam Houston State University

Sam Houston State University was founded in 1879 and is the third oldest public institution of higher learning in the State of Texas. It is located in Huntsville, Texas. It is one of the oldest purpose-built institutions for the instruction of teachers west of the Mississippi River and the first...

, before earning his Ph.D. from Oklahoma State University in 1986. He has had a wide publication record over the past thirty years that ranges from more mainstream poems to the exotic haiku

Haiku

' , plural haiku, is a very short form of Japanese poetry typically characterised by three qualities:* The essence of haiku is "cutting"...

, tanka

Tanka

Tanka may refer to:* Tanka, a form of Japanese waka * Tanka prose, a literary genre which combines tanka poems and prose* Thangka, a pictorial representation in Tibetan Buddhism...

 and haibun

Haibun

Haibun is a literary composition that combines prose and haiku. The range of haibun is broad and includes, but is not limited to, the following forms of prose: autobiography, biography, diary, essay, history, prose poem, short story and travel literature....

. Jones currently teaches at Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas, for the Texas State University MFA

Texas State University MFA

The Texas State University MFA Program at Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas is a three-year graduate-level creative writing program in the United States. Fiction writer Tom Grimes is currently the director of the program. The faculty includes many award winning writers...

. He lives in San Marcos, Texas

San Marcos, Texas

San Marcos is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, and is the seat of Hays County. Located within the metropolitan area, the city is located on the Interstate 35 corridor—between Austin and San Antonio....

 with his wife and two children. He has been nominated twice for a Pushcart Prize

Pushcart Prize

The Pushcart Prize is an American literary prize by Pushcart Press that honors the best "poetry, short fiction, essays or literary whatnot" published in the small presses over the previous year. Magazine and small book press editors are invited to nominate up to 6 works they have featured....

in addition to his poetry prizes.

Awards

• Texas Review Poetry Chapbook Prize, 1980
• Academy of American Poets Prize, 1984
• Texas Review Southern/Southwestern Breakthrough competition award, 1993
• Texas Review Press Poetry Prize, 2008

External links

• Texas State MFA Faculty Page
• Review for Are We There Yet?
• Haiku by Jones in Simply Haiku