HEATHER H. THOMAS is a poet, writer, and educator from the United States whose work resonates with fearless and compassionate intelligence. Born in New York and raised in Berks County, Pennsylvania, she has authored seven poetry collections, including Vortex Street (FutureCycle Press, 2018), Blue Ruby (FootHills Publishing, 2008), Resurrection Papers (Chax Press, 2003), and Practicing Amnesia (Singing Horse Press, 2000). Her poetry is renowned for its visionary imagination and technical brilliance, often portraying artistic expression as a source of renewal.

Thomas's work has earned accolades including the honorable mention award in the 2022 Joy Harjo Poetry Prize and the 2014 Rita Dove Poetry Prize. She won the Temple University Academy of American Poets Prize, a Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Literature Fellowship, the Gertrude Stein Award for Innovative American Poetry, and recognition as the Poet Laureate of Berks County (PA). Her poems have been translated into several languages, such as Arabic, Albanian, Hebrew, Italian, Lithuanian, Spanish, and Swedish, highlighting her international reach. She has shared her poetry both nationally and internationally, with readings in countries like Argentina, Bosnia, Egypt, Ireland, Israel, Kosovo, Lithuania, and Russia.

Academically, Thomas holds a Ph.D. in English and an M.A. in Creative Writing from Temple University, along with a B.A. cum laude in English from the University of Pennsylvania. She also attended Vassar College. As a Professor Emerita of English at Kutztown University, she taught creative writing at Cedar Crest College and conducts workshops to nurture the next generation of poets and writers.

Thomas's poetry has been featured in various literary journals and anthologies.

Thomas's poetry explores themes of personal and collective memory, loss, and the transformative power of language, providing readers with a profound examination of the human experience.

Her poetry is published in 23 anthologies, including the Keystone Poets Anthology (Penn State University Press, 2025), Shining Rock Poetry Anthology (2022), Welcome to the Resistance: Poetry as Protest (Stockton University, 2021), and Undocumented: Great Lakes Poets Laureate for Social Justice (Michigan State University Press, 2019). Additionally, her work appears in more than 50 journals, including Barrow Street; Cutthroat: A Journal of the Arts; Mizna: Prose, Poetry, and Art Exploring Arab America; The Wallace Stevens Journal; and Women's Studies Quarterly. She also writes under the name H.T. Harrison, with recent publications in The Pedestal and Persimmon Tree.

In this issue of The Pasticheur, we present a new poem, “The Ostrich Feather,” alongside Kristen Woodward’s painting titled Anubis Watches the Fires. Both works were submitted as part of a collaborative project. Additionally, we include other poems.

More of Heather’s work may be explored on her website.