Anita Gail Jones
Anita Gail Jones is a visual artist, professional storyteller and writer, born and raised in Albany, Georgia and lives in Northern California.
Anita’s debut novel, The Peach Seed, set in southwest Georgia, was a 2021 Top Ten Finalist in the PEN/Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction. Retha Powers at Henry Holt & Company acquired World rights from Steve Ross at Steve Ross Agency in a two-book deal.
Anita and her husband, Rob Roehrick, founded the Gaines-Jones Scholars, awarding need-based college scholarships to Black students in southwest Georgia and the San Francisco Bay Area in memory of her mother, sister, and father.
Literary representation: Steve Ross, Steve Ross Agency.
Order The Peach Seed
Hardcover, Ebook &
Audiobook (Narrated by Anita)
Henry Holt & Company (August, 2023)
“Jones debuts with a layered saga of a Southern Black family that weaves stories of the slave trade and the 1960s civil rights movement…[She] manages to tie together the themes of ancestral heritage and the persistent power of love….This is worth a look.”
Publishers Weekly
2024 UPCOMING EVENTS
________________________________________________________
📚 Tues. March 26, 2024 ~ New York City
Poets & Writers Gala | In Celebration of Writers
6:00 PM EST ~ Cocktails | 7PM ~ Seated Dinner | 9PM ~ Dessert Reception
Pier Sixty
Chelsea Piers
New York, NY 10011
Anita will be a table host for this festive event.
David Remnick will host. Laurie Halse Anderson, Roxane Gay,
and Nikole Hannah-Jones will receive the 2024 Barnes & Noble
Writers for Writers Award. Mitchell Kaplan will be honored
with the Champion for Writers Award. Nihar Malaviya,
CEO of Penguin Random House, is gala chair.
Purchase Tables or Tickets Here
________________________________________________________
📚 Fri. ~ Sun. April 26 ~ 28, 2024 ~ Sonoma, CA
Sonoma Valley Authors Festival
Ticketed Event
Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa
100 Boyes Blvd.
Sonoma, CA 95476
Anita will be speaking Friday at the Students Day event
and at breakout events with adults on Friday and Saturday.
Purchase Festival Passes Here
Book Hotel Room Reservation Here
________________________________________________________
📚 Sat ~ Sun. June 1-2, 2024 ~ Berkeley, CA
10th Annual Bay Area Book Festival
11:00 AM ~ 5:00 PM PST
Various Venues in Downtown Berkeley
Top Authors and Thought Leaders • Panels • Critical Conversations
Day Sessions: Free and open to the public | Evening: Ticketed events
________________________________________________________
📚 Sun. July 30, 2024
Release of The Peach Seed paperback
________________________________________________________
Read Anita’s Mini-Essay in
Poets & Writers Magazine
In this online exclusive Poets & Writers asks authors to share books, art, music, writing prompts, films—anything and everything—that has inspired them in their writing.
They see this as a place for writers to turn to for ideas that will help feed their creative process. You can read my essay here.
“The Peach Seed is set to be an epic, enchanting debut.”
Lauren Puckett-Pope, ELLE.com
The Peach Seed Official Book Trailer
“I couldn’t imagine a two-minute trailer managing to stir my old heart as did this piece. Extraordinary! Such an invitation to enter The Peach Seed book!”
—Ged Ayotte, Vancouver BC
“Anita Gail Jones weaves together personal histories and the legacies that came before us in an expansive story about family and hidden histories. The world in this debut novel feels so lived in. Readers are drawn in by gorgeous passages about landscapes that dance with all five senses..”
Debutiful
Recent News
The Peach Seed ~ LIVE Updates & Tour Schedule
👉🏾 Bookmark this page for UPDATES, LATEST NEWS & EVENTS MARCH 9, 2024 UPDATE Cheryl here with a few updates. (Yes, Anita is coming up for air …
Books All Georgians Should Read
Thank you Georgia Center for the Book, for including my debut novel, The Peach Seed in your 2024 list of Books All Georgians Should Read! This big …
The Peach Seed 2024 Black History Month Tour
After a lovely holiday respite, I’m hitting the road again next month for another east coast tour, landing in four cities: signing books, mixing …
Get the AGJInsider
Automatically receive email updates on news and events for debut novel, The Peach Seed, as well as other news and writing. Your privacy is protected; I will never share your contact info.
Let’s Connect
Facebook: @AnitaGailJones
Instagram: @anitagailjones
Twitter: @peachseedmonkey
LinkedIn: @AnitaGailJones