Anna Vangala Jones
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anniejowrites.bsky.social
Anna Vangala Jones
@anniejowrites.bsky.social
2.6K followers 770 following 1K posts
author of TURMERIC & SUGAR (Thirty West). stories in Wigleaf, Short Story Long, Berkeley Fiction Review, HAD, Craft, AAWW, etc.

annavangalajones.com
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anniejowrites.bsky.social
I have a new short story in the wonderful Terrazzo Editions today called “Maybe Mary” & I’d be thrilled if you give it a read. so grateful to amazing editor Gina Nutt. you can find her interview with me here too www.terrazzoeditions.com/terrazzomag/...
title: Maybe Mary author: Anna Vangala Jones a mosaic pattern in blue, tan, and purple title: Maybe Mary author: Anna Vangala Jones a mosaic pattern in blue, tan, and purple quote from story: “She says she doesn’t want to talk about the disappearance. Anything but that is fine.”
October 1, 2025 at 3:48 PM
anniejowrites.bsky.social
I have a new tiny story in @havehashad.com today about fleeting connections. thanks as always to @aaronburch.bsky.social, one of the best editors around, & to all of you who read this one ♡ 💀 🪦 ♡ www.havehashad.com/hadposts/our...
At the top of the page is a drawing of a pile of skulls. Underneath is today’s date: September 4, 2025. Then the title of the story and the name of the author: Our second date was meant to be unconventional and unromantic by Anna Vangala Jones. Below that is the text of the story: —we thought we were funny when we suggested meeting at the laundromat because we bonded on the first date about putting it off so long we'd almost reached the bathing suits as underwear stage. But when he called to cancel, I worried I should have held onto my mystique a bit longer and not revealed the lazy mess lurking beneath my put together surface yet. "It's not that," he said. "I have to go to a funeral." After I told him how sorry I was, he said, "Want to come?" I joked, "It's too soon but take me to the next one." I appreciated the earnest vulnerability of his response that he could use the company so I said yes. My friends teased me that we'd only been on one date so maybe he was a serial killer and we would be going to my funeral. Weird how we cope with the possibility of being murdered every time we meet someone new by laughing about how hilarious it'll be if it happens, but it's preferable to being paralyzed by it. "He loves Bruce Springsteen, so he can't be that bad," I told them. The funeral was for his lifelong friend—they had first met at only five years old—so it was of course sad. We held hands as they lowered the casket. After everyone else left, we wandered the cemetery chatting about everything and nothing like we were at a coffee shop and he kissed me in front of a tombstone that read, "Beloved and remembered. Until we meet again." He ghosted me after that. When I listen to Bruce at the laundromat, I wonder why our first and last kiss happened amidst graves and death and almost write him to ask. But maybe it's better not to know.
September 4, 2025 at 3:48 PM
anniejowrites.bsky.social
I have a new story in @havehashad.com today! so grateful as always to wonderful editor @aaronburch.bsky.social + all of you who read this one 🤍💀 www.havehashad.com/hadposts/may...
At the top of the page is a drawing of a pile of skulls. Underneath is today’s date: August 7, 2025. Then the title of the story and the name of the author: Maybe Someday by Anna Vangala Jones. Below that is the text of the opening lines of the story: “They meet every Tuesday around 3pm at the same green bench in front of the train station. It’s crowded enough where they go unnoticed and loud enough near the tracks with trains coming and going where they go unheard. They could be two strangers just happening upon the same bench instead of two would be lovers arranging to meet exactly there.”
August 7, 2025 at 3:44 PM
anniejowrites.bsky.social
had the best time reading my new short story at small press nite with @kevinmkearney.bsky.social at the book catapult — his novel Freelance is out from @rejectionlit.bsky.social now & you should order your copy
a woman in a yellow crochet cardigan and denim overalls dress over a black top standing at a podium and reading a short story for the Small Press Nite literary reading at The Book Catapult (📸 credit to @robbiemaakestad.bsky.social) a man wearing jeans and a denim jacket over a white shirt standing at a podium reading an excerpt from his new novel for the Small Press Nite literary reading at the Book Catapult a woman—wearing a black top, black pants, and purple flats—sits on a barstool on a patio with an ocean view, having a drink before her literary reading later the sun setting over the ocean behind clouds on a grey evening
June 2, 2025 at 3:04 PM
anniejowrites.bsky.social
I have another new story in HAD today! it’s from the short story collection I’ve been working on (along with my other recent ones in @havehashad.com & Short Story Long)—so grateful to @aaronburch.bsky.social & any of you who read my fiction ♡ www.havehashad.com/hadposts/mis...
At the top of the page is a drawing of a pile of skulls. Underneath is today’s date: May 21, 2025. Then the title of the story and the name of the author: Missed Connections by Anna Vangala Jones. Below that is the text of the opening lines of the story: “The girl with blue hair and a nose ring is more confused than afraid when she is visited by the ghost of that guy from that one time in the parking lot behind the movie theater. She hasn’t been there in years. She thinks it’s been torn down. He had been lovely and gentle if she is remembering him right, but”
May 21, 2025 at 2:04 PM
anniejowrites.bsky.social
I have a new story in @havehashad.com today! my third one 💀 🏚️ ✨ grateful as always to editor @aaronburch.bsky.social for providing a wonderful home for my words + to all of you who read it ♡ www.havehashad.com/hadposts/the...
At the top of the page is a drawing of a pile of skulls. Underneath is today’s date: March 31, 2025. Then the title of the story and the name of the author: The Haunted House of Things Left Unsaid by Anna Vangala Jones. Below that is the text of the opening lines of the story: “Everyone’s heard the rumors that when you die, they take you into a house you’ve never seen before—real dilapidated and creepy for added effect maybe—and in each room, they make you watch people from throughout the course of your life reading or listening to all the things you’ve wanted to say to them when you were alive but never did. Letters, emails, notes in books, burned CDs, text messages, silent moments”
March 31, 2025 at 3:49 PM
anniejowrites.bsky.social
hi bluesky! I wrote Turmeric & Sugar—a book about love, loneliness, obsession, ghosts, the surreal + the real, & longing. @tananarivedue.bsky.social calls it “an impressive debut by a writer with a clear vision into the human heart.” @thirtywestph.bsky.social
www.thirtywestph.com/shop/turmeri...
A book sits on a bench surrounded by flowers and leaves. The book title is Turmeric & Sugar: Stories and the author is Anna Vangala Jones. The original cover design shows maroon curtains drawn to reveal a window overlooking an elephant and an ocean with choppy waves. The elephant is blue like the sky full of white wispy clouds. The artist is Carolyn Brandt.
November 19, 2024 at 4:49 PM
anniejowrites.bsky.social
went outside. it was nice. might do it again sometime
a woman standing in front of a fence overlooking a lighthouse + the ocean
July 26, 2023 at 3:04 AM