Who?

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Iain S. Thomas has dozens of local and international awards for his creativity and is one of the world’s most popular writers and poets, with millions of readers across the globe. His prose and poetry appears on monuments and in university collections, has been quoted by everyone from Steven Spielberg to Arianna Huffington, and has been read in front of the British Royal Family.

He is an international number-one bestselling creator and author of numerous books and creative projects, and has worked with some of the world’s biggest companies and institutions to bring their ideas to life, with numerous accolades for his work as a creative director.

He regularly travels the world to work, attend literary festivals and conferences but when he isn’t, he lives in Cape Town, South Africa with his family.

Follow him on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. 

Press

An interview with master story teller, Stephen James, on Story Blender. 

“[Some readers] want you to be the South African version of someone who already exists, the South African Lee Child, the South African Margaret Atwood, the South African Jonathan Franzen. I made a decision a while back that I would rather be the world’s Iain Thomas.”

– Iain S. Thomas, Publishers Weekly

Harry Styles

“The poem is a way to look for peace and reassurance that even though our time here as humans is limited, that we are part of something so much more significant than ourselves.”

– Iain S. Thomas, Financial Mail 

“When there is need, they are there. Tom and Rita, a dynamic duo that in our world of superheroes, just know this — their superpower is to be human which brings to mind a quote from the poet Iain Thomas…”

– Steven Spielberg, The Hollywood Reporter

“The world will keep coming at you with its incessant demands, beeps, blinking lights, and alerts. “Every day,” Iain Thomas wrote, “the world will drag you by the hand, yelling, ‘This is important! And this is important! And this is important! You need to worry about this! And This! And This!’ And each day, it’s up to you to yank your hand back, put it on your heart and say, ‘No. This is what’s important.’” It’s from this sacred place that life is transformed from struggle to grace, from information to wisdom.”

-Arianna Huffington, Time Magazine 

“Rupi Kaur (whose “Milk and Honey” is No. 1), Neil Hilborn, (whose “Our Numbered Day” is No. 3), and Iain Thomas a.k.a. pleasefindthis (whose “I Wrote This For You” is No. 5) have all found their way from the virtual pages of Instagram to the kinds of book sales most poets can only deconstruct dreams about — thanks to follower counts that feel more like the province of pop stars.”

– The Boston Globe

“I was in New York in Central Park reading [“I Wrote This For You” by Iain S. Thomas] when I get a call. I don’t answer and then my team tells me that Ava is going to call me. I’m like “[Shoot], I missed Ava’s call.” I call her back and she’s like “I have this opportunity … would you be interested?” I’m like, “Yes. Where? When?” Then she tells me it’s for Jay-Z and Beyonce.”

– Trevante Rhodes, The Los Angeles Times 

“I fell in love with language before I fell in love with any specific poets. I recognized that there was a way to phrase words that made them more powerful. I loved movie taglines because they were a kind of poetry, they told this entire story in the space of a sentence or two. The whole of the movie Alien is summed up as “In space, no one can you hear you scream.” I know that doesn’t sound very poetic or perhaps it’s not a very poetic answer, but it was through being exposed to that kind of pop-culture that I discovered my love of language.” 

– Iain S. Thomas, Psychology Today 

33 thoughts on “Who?”

  3. I wonder how you get in contact with him. The author of the book that caught my eye the other day. In a sense I found a new dream. To meet the author of this book. These beautifully written words.

  8. My daughter Madalynn turned me on to your poetry and books. She recited them to me way before I was able to actually read anything by you. You have inspired in us to share even more of our love for poetry and one another. Thank you.

  9. i have found salvation in your words, as i hope you have as well. you are not a poet. a poet is a trivial word, a poet is a person who makes things unknown, you do not do this, at least, not to me. you’ve been the lone harbinger of truth in a world of hedonism.

    you saved my life. please remember to save yourself.

    thank you.

  23. I went into our local bookstore the other day, not wanting or needing a book in particular. My boyfriend and I were waiting for our movie to start in the cinema across the way.
    There was a table of best sellers that we had stopped at and nothing was catching my eye until I saw “I Wrote This For You”. It looked like a journal. So I read the cover. And was starting to get chocked up. I turned to the Dedication page and by the end I was full out sobbing. I left the store with the book. I didn’t realize words from a stranger could have such an immense impact. Thank you.

  24. […] Iain Thomas, author of I Wrote This For You, shows us that as writers, we have the right to do what we please with language. I whole-heartedly agree. Thomas tells us that poetry belongs to the people who read it; and we can write and create about anything we want to because people have the power to name things; and it’s with our power to name things that things have power (“What’s in a name?”). […]

  25. I have read your 2 ‘I Wrote This for You’ books a few years back, when I was going through a rough time, and they really, and I mean really, changed my outlook on things. I began to cope by taking photos and writing poetry, and I still do. Everything about your books is beautiful, and inspiring, and it’s spoken from the soul. Thank you so much for making something so impactful.

  26. Im not sure if youll ever read this, and as an author this may or may not be what youd want to hear, but i guess this is my shout into the void. Similar to how most writers fill empty spaces with their words and throw them into the universe, hoping they get read, feeling a little less alone. I just finished writing my suicide letter before stumbling upon your book, How to be happy. To say that i felt a connection with you or that it saved me sounds cliche and maybe a bit pretentious. What I can say though is that it helped me realize within myself that i can hold on. And for that, i thank you.

  30. Hi, how can I buy the complete series of I wrote this for you book? I don’t want to have to buy separately… Thanks!

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