Lorenzo Thomas was an American poet and critic

Critic

A critic is anyone who expresses a value judgement. Informally, criticism is a common aspect of all human expression and need not necessarily imply skilled or accurate expressions of judgement. Critical judgements, good or bad, may be positive , negative , or balanced...

. He was born in the Republic of Panama and grew up in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

, where his family immigrated in 1948.

Life

Thomas was a graduate of Queens College in New York. During his years there, he joined the Umbra Workshop

Umbra poets

Umbra was a collective of young Black writers based in Manhattan's Lower East Side founded in 1962. Major members included the following writers:*Steve Cannon*Thomas Covington Dent/Tom Dent*Al Haynes*David Henderson*Calvin C. Hernton*Joe Johnson...

, which drew young writers to the Lower East Side

Lower East Side

The Lower East Side, LES, is a neighborhood in the southeastern part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is roughly bounded by Allen Street, East Houston Street, Essex Street, Canal Street, Eldridge Street, East Broadway, and Grand Street....

 of New York City in search of their artistic voices. It served as a crucible for emerging black poets, among them Ishmael Reed

Ishmael Reed

Ishmael Scott Reed is an American poet, essayist, and novelist. A prominent African-American literary figure, Reed is known for his satirical works challenging American political culture, and highlighting political and cultural oppression.Reed has been described as one of the most controversial...

, David Henderson and Calvin C. Hernton

Calvin C. Hernton

Calvin Coolidge Hernton was an American sociologist, poet and author.He was born in Chattanooga Tennessee, USA on 28 April 1932. He studied at Talladega College and Fisk University. He subsequently came to London and worked with the Institute of Phenomenalogical Stduies. He was a Professor of...

. The workshop was one of the currents that fed the Black Arts Movement

Black Arts Movement

The Black Arts Movement or BAM is the artistic branch of the Black Power movement. It was started in Harlem by writer and activist Amiri Baraka...

 of the '60s and '70s, the first major African-American artistic movement after the Harlem Renaissance

Harlem Renaissance

The Harlem Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned the 1920s and 1930s. At the time, it was known as the "New Negro Movement", named after the 1925 anthology by Alain Locke...

.

For more than two decades a professor of English at the University of Houston–Downtown

University of Houston–Downtown

The University of Houston–Downtown is a four-year state university, and is a distinct component institution of the University of Houston System. Its campus spans 20-acre in Downtown Houston, with a satellite location in northwestern Harris County...

, Thomas also made important contributions to the study of African-American literature. In 2000, he published Extraordinary Measures: Afrocentric Modernism and 20th-Century American Poetry, his overview of the work of James Fenton

James Fenton

James Martin Fenton is an English poet, journalist and literary critic. He is a former Oxford Professor of Poetry.-Life and career:...

 and Amiri Baraka

Amiri Baraka

Amiri Baraka , formerly known as LeRoi Jones, is an American writer of poetry, drama, fiction, essays, and music criticism...

, among others.

Selected publications

• Chances are Few (1st edition, 1980)
• The Bathers (1981)
• Extraordinary Measures: Afrocentric Modernism and Twentieth-Century American Poetry (2000)
• Chances are Few (expanded 2nd edition, 2003) (ISBN 0-912652-77-2)
• Dancing on Main Street (2004)

External links

• Obituary in the Houston Chronicle
• "Houston Loses an Important Resident Writer..." remembrance of Thomas in Houston Chronicle
• Talking to Lorenzo Thomas (Virtually) interview with Thomas @ The New Journal
• EPC–Lorenzo Thomas Homepage @ The Electronic Poetry Center
• FURIOUS FLOWER: African American Poetry, 1960-1995 A "Facilitator Guide" to the Video Series
• Black Arts Movement @ aalbc.com article from "African American Literature Book Club" website
• Teachers & Writers: Poet's Chat in this interview with Daniel Kane, Thomas talks about the connections between African-American derived prosody and modernism
  Modernism
  Modernism, in its broadest definition, is modern thought, character, or practice. More specifically, the term describes the modernist movement, its set of cultural tendencies and array of associated cultural movements, originally arising from wide-scale and far-reaching changes to Western society...
  
  , and suggests ways in which teachers can make historical links between texts not usually considered as related. This interview is an excerpt from a longer, more comprehensive piece published in the book Poetry and Pedagogy, edited by Juliana Spahr
  Juliana Spahr
  Juliana Spahr is an American poet, critic, and editor. She is the recipient of the 2009 Hardison Poetry Prize awarded by the Folger Shakespeare Library to honor a U.S...
  
   and Joan Retallack
  Joan Retallack
  Joan Retallack is an American poet, critic, biographer, and multi-disciplinary scholar.-Life and work:Joan Retallack received her B.A. from the University of Illinois, Urbana and her M.A. from Georgetown University...