R. Eric Thomas
Foundry Member, Foundry Lead Artist, Philadelphia Playwright, Independent Development Workshop
R. Eric Thomas (he/him) is the national bestselling author of Here For It, or How to Save Your Soul in America, a Read with Jenna book club pick featured on Today and “a laugh-out-loud memoir strongly recommended for everyone” (Library Journal). Hailed as “infused with all the joy of the best teen movies” by Buzzfeed, his YA novel, Kings of B’more, was also featured on Today and was named a 2023 Stonewall Honor Book by the American Library Association. His biography of Rep. Maxine Waters, Reclaiming Her Time, co-authored with Helena Andrews-Dyer, makes “the case that political biographies shine bright when they have as much panache as their subject” (Washington Post). His latest book of essays, Congratulations, The Best is Over, is a USA Today National Bestseller and was praised as “unfailingly entertaining” by Publishers Weekly.
Eric is also a television writer (AppleTV+’s Dickinson, FX’s Better Things), an award-winning playwright, and the long-running host of The Moth in Philadelphia. Readers across the country may know him from his nationally syndicated daily advice column “Asking Eric” or from the four years he spent as a Senior Staff Writer for Elle.com where he wrote “Eric Reads the News“. For his playwriting, he won the Barrymore Award for Best New Play, the Dramatists Guild Lanford Wilson Award, and the Lambda Literary Award.
He has been published multiple times in The New York Times, TIME, Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Magazine, and others. He has been heard on Fresh Air, Pop Culture Happy Hour, It’s Been a Minute with Sam Sanders, Jen Hatmaker’s For the Love, and other podcasts.
Eric is a member of the WGA-East and the Dramatists Guild.