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Larry D. Thomas Vita (2010)

Educational Background:

BA (English literature), University of Houston (1970)

 

 

Current Status:

Retired (1998), Harris County Adult Probation Department, Houston,
Texas Branch Director 1983-1998

1998 to present: full-time poet; appointed in April 2007 by the Texas Legislature
as the 2008 Texas Poet Laureate

 

 

Honorary Listings:

Directory of American Poets and Fiction Writers (Poets & Writers, Inc.)

Who’s Who in America

 

 

Publications (including honors and awards):

Books (poetry):

The Lighthouse Keeper (Timberline Press, 2001)

Small Press Review “pick-of-the-issue” (May/June 2001)

 

Amazing Grace (Texas Review Press, 2001)

Winner, 2001 Texas Review Poetry Prize

Winner, 2003 Western Heritage Award

Finalist, 2002 Spur Award (Western Writers of America)

 

The Woodlanders (Pecan Grove Press, 2002)

Finalist, Pecan Grove Press National Chapbook Competition

2002 Violet Crown Book Awards Special Citation

 

Where Skulls Speak Wind (Texas Review Press, 2004)

Winner, 2004 Texas Review Poetry Award

Winner, 2004 Violet Crown Book Award

Finalist, 2005 Spur Award (Western Writers of America)

 

Stark Beauty (Timberline Press, 2005)

Nominee, 2007 Poet’s Prize (Nicholas Roerich Museum)

First Runner-Up, 2006 Western Heritage Award

Finalist, 2006 Spur Award (Western Writers of America)

 

With the Light of Apricots (published online/Lily Literary Review, 2007)

 

Eros (published online/Slow Trains Literary Journal, 2007)

 

The Fraternity of Oblivion (Timberline Press, 2008)

 

New and Selected Poems (TCU Press, 2008)

 

The Circus (published online/Right Hand Pointing, 2008)

 

Plain Pine (e-chapbook/Right Hand Pointing, 2010)

 

The Skin of Light (Dalton Publishing, 2010)

 

Dark Pearls (LaNana Creek Press, 2010)

 

 

Prose/Reviews:

Concho River Review

The Huntsville Item (newspaper)

JASAT: Journal of the American Studies Association of Texas

The Texas Review

 

Anthologies:

Anthology of Magazine Verse & Yearbook of American Poetry (1997)

Beyond Forgetting: Poetry and Prose about Alzheimer's Disease
(Kent State University Press, 2009).

Big Land, Big Sky, Big Hair (Dos Gatos Press, 2008)

The Big Roundup (New West Library, 2001)

Callaloo 32:1, Celebrating Texas Writers (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2009)

descant Fifty Years: The Literary Journal of TCU (TCU Press, 2007)

In the Yard: A Poetry Anthology (Old Mountain Press, 2006)

Lone Star 2000 (TX Writers Special Issue of descant, 2000)

New Texas (2001, 2002, 2003 and 2005)

Open Range: Poetry of the Reimagined West (Ghost Road Press, 2007)

A Students’ Treasury of Texas Poetry (TCU Press, 2007)

Texas in Poetry 2 (TCU Press, 2002)

Two Southwests (Virtual Artists Collective, 2008)

The Weight of Addition: An Anthology of TX Poetry (Mutabilis Press, 2007)

 

Journals and Magazines (selective listing):

Poetry-over 250 poems in such journals and magazines as the following:

American Indian Culture and Research Journal

Ampersand Poetry Journal (online)

Borderlands: Texas Poetry Review

Brevities: A Mini-Mag of Minimalist Poems

Cape Rock

Chattahoochee Review

Christian Science Monitor

Concho River Review

Cottonwood

descant: Fort Worth’s Journal of Poetry and Fiction

Desert Candle

Green Hills Literary Lantern

International Poetry Review

Iron Horse Literary Review

JAMA: Journal of the American Medical Association

Langdon Review of the Arts in Texas

Louisiana Literature

Midwest Quarterly

Plainsongs

Poet Lore

Poetry Depth Quarterly

Puerto del Sol

Radiant Turnstile (online)

Rattle

REAL: Regarding Arts & Letters

Red Rock Review

Relief

Right Hand Pointing (online)

Rio Grande Review

RiverSedge

Rosebud Magazine

Slow Trains Literary Journal (online)

Small Pond Magazine of Literature

Southwest Review

Southwestern American Literature

Spoon River Poetry Review

Sulphur River Literary Review

Texas Observer

Texas Review

Touchstone Literary Journal

Valparaiso Poetry Review (online)

Webster Review

Whole Notes

Windhover

Writers’ Forum

 

 

Other Honors:

Three Pushcart Prize nominations

Houston Area Barnes & Noble Booksellers Author of the Month (June 2002)

2008 Texas Poet Laureate (Term: 19 April 2008 through 18 April 2009)

Ron Stone Foundation Grant ($2,000.00 cash award) (October 2007)

Honorary Lifetime Membership, Permian Basin Chapter, Poetry Society of Texas

Honorary Lifetime Membership, Gulf Coast Poets Chapter, Poetry Society of Texas, Webster, Texas

Resolution (Commissioners' Court, Harris County, Texas) designating August 21, 2007 as
Larry D. Thomas Day in Harris County, Texas

Proclamation (Mayor's Office, Midland, Texas) designating October 20, 2007 as
Larry D. Thomas Day in Midland, Texas

Proclamation (Mayor's Office, Houston, Texas) designating January 27, 2009 as
Larry D. Thomas Day in Houston, Texas

Membership, Texas Institute of Letters, April 2009

2009 Spur Award Finalist Citation (poetry category)

 

 

Critical Reviews:

Received positive critical reviews in the following newspapers and journals:

The Houston Chronicle

The San Antonio Express-News

The Desert-Mountain Times

The Texas Review

Texas Books in Review

Borderlands: Texas Poetry Review

Louisiana Literature

Iron Horse Literary Review

Concho River Review

Windhover

Journal of the American Studies Association of Texas (JASAT)

 

 

Recent Keynote/Featured Speaker Presentations (selective listing):

Angelo State University, Texas (February 2002)

East Central University, Oklahoma (November 2002)

Arkansas Tech University, Arkansas (November 2003)

Del Mar College, Texas (November 2004)

University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, Texas (January 2005)

Poetry Society of Texas, Summer Conference, Austin (July 2005)

Langdon Weekend (Langdon Review of the Arts in Texas), Granbury (Sept. 2005)

William Woods University, Missouri (April 2006)

First Friday Poetry Reading Series, Houston (May 2006)

National Federation of State Poetry Societies, San Antonio (June 2006)

Texas A&M University, Southwest Writers & Artists Festival (October 2006)

Blinn College, Texas (Sigma Kappa Delta) (March 2007)

Austin International Poetry Festival, Texas (April 2007)

Langdon Weekend (Langdon Review of the Arts in Texas), Granbury (Sept. 2007)

Univ. of Houston, Texas Association of Creative Writing Teachers (Sept. 2007)

Midland College/Permian Basin Poetry Society, Midland (Oct. 2007)

Del Mar College, Texas (November 2007)

Sierra Club, Houston Regional Group (November 2007)

Harris County Historical Society, Houston (December 2007)

Montgomery County Teen Book Festival, The Woodlands, TX (January 2008)

Poetry in the Arts, Austin (February 2008)

River Oaks Rotary Club, Houston (March 2008)

Arlington Public Library/Southwest Branch, Arlington, TX (April 2008)

Tarrant County College (Southeast & Northeast campuses), Texas (April 2008)

Lubbock Arts Festival (April 2008)

Trinity Valley Community College, Texas (April 2008)

Stephen F. Austin State University, Texas (April 2008)

University of Texas at Tyler (April 2008)

Daughters of the Republic of Texas/San Jacinto Chapter (May 2008)

Immaculate Conception School, Rio Grande City, TX (May 2008)

Benbrook Public Library, Benbrook, TX (June 2008)

Poetry Society of Texas, Summer Conference, Houston (July 2008)

University of Texas at Austin/Borderlands: TX Poetry Review (July 2008)

University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, Belton, TX (October 2008)

Southwest Texas Junior College, Uvalde, TX (October 2008)

Schreiner University, Kerrville, TX (November 2008)

University of North Texas (November 2008)

Texas Christian University (November 2008)

Gulf Coast Poets (Webster, TX), Guest Speaker (December 2008)

Art Institute of Houston Poetry Reading Series, Featured with Carolyn Reding (Jan. 2009)

"Writing Down the Brazos," Workshop Presenter, Langdon Ctr., Granbury, TX (Feb. 2009)

Callaloo Salutes TX Writers (TX A&M Univ.), Featured with Edward Hirsch (Mar. 2009)

William Woods University, Fulton, Mo., Featured Author (March 2009)

2nd Annual Rio Grande Valley International Poetry Festival, McAllen, TX (April 2009)

Robert E. Howard Days, Cross Plains, TX, Guest of Honor (June 2009)

Gulf Coast Poetry Tour, Houston (October 2009)

Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi (October 2009)

University of Texas/Permian Basin (November 2009)

Blue Rock Studio Concert Series, Wimberly, TX (November 2009)

5th Annual Scissortail Creative Writing Festival, Ada, OK (April 2010)

The Cole Art Center, Nacogdoches, TX (April 2010)

 

 

Readings, Signings and Workshops:

Over 100 appearances in past 10 years at colleges, universities, writers’ conferences and bookstores throughout the Southwest.

 

 

Email: poetldt@comcast.net

Web Site: http://www.LarryDThomas.com

 

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