About

*VOTE FOR ME TO BECOME THE NEXT PLYMOUTH LAUREATE OF WORDS (CLICK CLICK CLICK!)*

Hi, I'm R.C. Thomas, a writer and illustrator living in Plymouth, UK.

I'm generally amused by the surreal/abstract/absurd in the everyday, and I try to reflect that in my work where possible.

My poetry and haiku have appeared in journals and anthologies internationally*. I have published two collections of poetry, The Strangest Thankyou (Cultured Llama, 2012) and Zygote Poems (Cultured Llama, 2015), an illustrated book of haiku, Faunistics (2024), and a collection of tan-renga with mixed media artwork, Infinity Strings (2025), in collaboration with Hifsa Ashraf. I have also edited and/or co-edited creative publications such as Symmetry Pebbles, INK, Tribe, and Thief. I've written articles and interviews for Tribe Media, too.

In 2014, I graduated from Plymouth University with a BA (Hons) in Creative Writing and was awarded for Best Creative Dissertation for Zygote Poems. I also received my PGDip in Creative Writing from Plymouth University in 2015.

Having received a Level 4 Diploma in Proofreading and Editing from the College of Media and Publishing, I now offer these services professionally for both creative and corporate clients. Find out more here.

I also run creative writing workshops for children and adults. Find out more about that, and how you can book me, here.

If you'd like to commission me to write or draw for you, send me a message through my contact page, or email me directly: hello @ rcthomasthings .com.

Bonus thing: If you like, you can read an article I wrote about fatherhood and poetry for Huffington Post UK here.

*My poems and haiku have been published/are forthcoming in the following print and online journals, and podcast: Akitsu Quarterly, Arthole, The Asahi Shimbun, The Bamboo Hut, Blithe Spirit, Bloo Outlier, Bold + Italic, Bottlerockets, Broken Lens, Bruiser, Carousel SW, Cattails, Caught in the Net, Charlotte Digregorio's Writer's Blog, Client Culture, Clinic, The Coffeehouse, Cold Moon Journal, Creatrix, Dawn Returns: Haiku Society of America Members' Anthology 2022 (ed. John. J Han), Die Leere Mitte, Failed Haiku, Fevers of the Mind, Fireflies' Light, Frameless Sky, Futures Trading, Gutter, Haiku Commentary, The Haiku Foundation's 'Haiku Dialogue', Heliosparrow, The Heron's Nest, The IMPpress, 'The Ink Pods' podcast by The Blue Nib, Ink, Sweat and Tears, KLCHR, Kokako, The Lake, Lothlorien Poetry Journal, Lunar Poetry, The Mamba, Meniscus, Modern Haiku, Neon Highway, Neutral Norway, the Nick Virgilio Haiku Association's 'Haiku in Action', NOON (Journal of the Short Poem), Notes from the Gean, NZPS 2022 Anthology (ed. Tim Jones), Orbis, The Other Bunny, Otoliths, Ourselves in Rivers and Oceans (ed. Claire Thom) Pages Literary Journal, The Pan Haiku Review, Petrichor, Poetry Pea, Poetry Salzburg Review, Presence, Prune Juice, Reflections, Rip-Roaring Haiku Anthology (ed. Corine Timmer), Scarlet Dragonfly Journal, Scifaikuest,The Screech Owl, Shadow Pond, Shamrock, Spillwords, Taj Mahal Review, Tandem, Tears in the Fence, 'Temple': the British Haiku Society's Anthology 2021, Time Haiku, Trash Panda, Treveni Haikai, Tribe, tsuri-dōrō, Ubu., Under the Basho, Unexplored Territory (ed. Maria C. McCarthy), Venus in Scorpio, Wales Haiku Journal, Weyfarers, Wild Orphan. My haiku 'calling it a day' was a 'selected haiku submission' in the 13th Yamadera Basho Memorial Museum English Haiku Contest; 'silver lining--' won joint first place in the Sharpening the Green Pencil Haiku Contest 2022; 'ghost wind' won first place in the Third Annual Maya Lyubenova Haiku Contest. In 2021 and 2022, I was selected as one of the Top 100 European Haiku Authors. My short story, 'My Third Wife Was Called Wendy-Ellen' received an honourable mention in the Globe Soup Open Short Story Competition.