Texas Review Press Poet Named 2008 Texas Poet Laureate

Larry D. Thomas

Texas Poet Laureate-elect Larry D. Thomas, the second person with that title to have a Sam Houston State University connection, said the university's Texas Review Press has been a lifesaver to Texas poetry.

“The fact is that Texas Review Press, an adjunct of the English department at Sam Houston State University, is in large part responsible for keeping poetry alive and thriving in this state,” said Thomas.

The Texas Review Press impact is felt outside the state as well, he said.

“Indeed, they have made a major contribution to poetry throughout this country and abroad, having published books by poets from over 20 states, as well as Japan and the Czech Republic," Thomas said. " Further, The Texas Review, their international literary journal, has published hundreds of poets, from beginners to Pulitzer Prize winners, from virtually every state and a dozen foreign countries.”

This past April Thomas, who lives and works in Houston, was appointed by the Texas Legislature as the 2008 Texas poet laureate. His term begins in April 2008.

Thomas is the second Texas Review Press poet to be so honored, the first being Cleatus Rattan of Dallas, who served as Texas Poet Laureate from 2005-2006. TRP published the primary collections upon which the selection of both poet laureates was made. TRP also published two poetry collections by Dave Parsons, who
last year was chosen by the Montgomery County Commissioners as Montgomery County poet laureate, a position he will hold until 2010.

Thomas has written and published poetry for more than 30 years. Until he retired in 1998 from his 31-year career in social service and adult criminal justice, he wrote only on weekends. Since 1998 he has been a full-time poet, writing in a small studio located behind his home in Houston, where he lives with his wife, Lisa.

Thomas has a longstanding publication history with The Texas Review and with Texas Review Press. First published by the Review in 1989, he went on to become a regular contributor of poetry to the journal. He
subsequently became a regular contributor of poetry to a number of other distinguished national literary journals, including the Midwest Quarterly, Louisiana Literature, Poetry Depth Quarterly (California), Fort Worth’s Journal of Poetry and Fiction, Concho River Review, RE:AL: The Journal of Liberal Arts, Borderlands: Texas Poetry Review, Sulphur River Literary Review, Southwestern American Literature and Windhover.

His first book-length collection of poetry, Amazing Grace, was published by Texas Review Press in 2001 as the winner of the 2001 Texas Review Poetry Prize. That book subsequently received the 2003 Western Heritage
Award from the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, one of the most prestigious literary awards in the nation granted annually for a book of poetry which celebrates the historical or contemporary West.

In 2004,Texas Review Press published his second book-length collection of poetry, Where Skulls Speak Wind, as winner of the 2004 Texas Review Poetry Prize. Where Skulls Speak Wind subsequently received the 2004 Violet Crown Book Award sponsored by the Writers’ League of Texas and Barnes and Noble Booksellers, one of the top literary awards in Texas granted for a book of poems published within a 12-month period.

Additional literary honors garnered by Thomas include two Pushcart Prize nominations, a Poet’s Prize nomination (Nicholas Roerich Museum), three Spur Award Finalist citations (Western Writers of America), and designation by Barnes and Noble Booksellers in June 2002 as the Houston area author of the month.

Since his appointment in April as the 2008 Texas poet laureate, Thomas has been featured in the Houston Chronicle and on Houston’s ABC affiliate KTRK-TV (Channel 13). Among other honors and awards, he received a resolution from Harris County Judge Ed Emmett and Harris County Commissioners’ Court proclaiming Aug. 21, 2007, as “Larry D. Thomas Day.”

On Oct. 10 Thomas will receive a coveted $2,000 cash award from the Ron Stone Foundation for the Advancement and Study of Texas History to be utilized for the promotion of poetry and Texas history
throughout the state during his tenure as the 2008 Texas poet laureate.

Widely published in a number of respected national literary journals, Thomas has seven poetry collections in print, and has two additional collections forthcoming: The Fraternity of Oblivion (Timberline Press,
late 2007) and New and Selected Poems (TCU Press, April 2008).

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SHSU Media Contact: Frank Krystyniak
Oct. 9, 2007
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