Larry D. Thomas, a member of the Texas Institute of Letters and the 2008 Texas Poet Laureate, has published nine book-length collections of poetry and numerous poetry chapbooks, both in print and online. His As If Light Actually Matters: New & Selected Poems was published in 2015 by Texas Review Press, Member, Texas A&M University Press Consortium. Thomas's numerous honors and awards include two Texas Review Poetry Prizes, two Western Heritage Awards (Western Heritage Museum, Oklahoma), the Violet Crown Book Award (Writers' League of Texas), nomination for the 2007 Poets' Prize (Nicholas Roerich Museum, New York, New York), and eight nominations for the Pushcart Award. Thomas resided in Houston from 1967 until 2011. He now resides in Alpine, Texas, with his wife, Lisa.