Thomas Stewart studied at the University of South Wales and creative writing at the University of Warwick and in Milan. In 2021, he was awarded a New Writers Award from Scottish Book Trust where he was mentored by Claire Askew. In 2020, he was Highly Commended in the Verve Poetry Competition, and his poem was included in the anthology, We've Done Nothing Wrong, We've Nothing to Hide (Verve Poetry Press, 2020). Thomas is the author of two poetry pamphlets: Based on a True Story (fourteen poems, 2022). Empire of Dirt (Red Squirrel Press, 2019), a Poetry Book Society selection.
'With Real Boys, Thomas Stewart has offered us a collection of intensely personal, often painful, but ultimately life-affirming poetry' * The Skinny, 5 Stars * 'A beautiful and wistful collection which wrangles with life’s ample grief and heartache. Stewart captures the delicate balance of queerness and masculinities, highlighting how we so often mythologise our fathers even when they have capacity to cause great anguish after death' -- Andrés N. Ordorica, author of How We Named the Stars 'A wonderful meditation on death, love, the language of grief, want, lust, and hope. Thomas Stewart’s poems show how barbs of strength emerge after plucking away all thorns, then allowing them to regrow' -- Jenni Fagan