Helen Sarah Thomas
About
Helen Sarah Thomas is a poet, playwright, author of Sierra Leonean and Irish heritage who was born in London, lives in Cornwall and whose work focuses primarily upon global majority / Black British writing, history and culture, women's lives and writing, poetry performance, and the medical humanities.
Helen has performed her poetry at events in London, Bristol and Plymouth including the Lyre Poetry Festival, BBC Your Local Arena Project, SOUND: Plymouth Poetry Festival and at the Page of Plymouth Project. She has been commissioned to create poetry by organisations BBC Arena, Speaking Volumes and Literature Works. Helen has published two poetical collections, The Twins (2026) and 1562 (2022). She is currently working on her third volume of poetry.
Helen's plays include Maeve and the 3,000 Black GIs (2024) showcased by Beyond Face at the Exeter Phoenix, Salve (2022), a poetic dance work supported by Down Stage Write at the Theatre Royal Plymouth, and Simity, a historical poetic drama longlisted by the RSC's '37 Plays Competition' in 2023. In 2024, she was commisioned by Beyond Face to co-create a play with Secondary School students as part of the Flying Colours Programme.
Helen has worked as Senior Editor on the international, 'Poetry Off the Page' Project, championing the history and value of performing poets in Britain since the 1980s. Her chapter on the political radicalism of Black British and Asian Poets working in the UK in the 1980s and 1990s is due to be published by Palgrave (2027). She has published a podcast on 'Poetry Performance MCs (Master of Ceremonies)' (2025), a blog on 'Poetry Performance & Maternal Loss' (2025) and interviewed poets such as Joelle Taylor, Anthony Joseph, Suhaiymah Manzoor-Khan and Marsha Prescod (2025). Helen's critical research on black British literature and culture includes Black Agents Provocateurs: 250 Years of Black British Writing, History and the Law, 1770–2020 (2020), and Romanticism and Slave Narratives: Transatlantic Testimonies (Cambridge University Press, 2000) and Caryl Phillips (2004).
Helen is a member of the Royal Society of Authors, the Black Writers Guild, and a founding member of "Cornwall and Devon Creative Collective CIC". She has facilitated 'Life Writing, Archive and Memoir Writing Workshops' with authors such as Cathy Retzenbrick and has delivered workshops at the Watershed, Bristol and the Box, Plymouth. Her public projects, talks and events include ‘The Invisible Archive’ (2020), Climate Care Writing Workshops (2022), the creation of two digital maps, 'The Early Black Presence in Cornwall' and 'The Plymouth Freedom Map' (2025), a public talk on ‘Mapping Lives London’ as part of London Arts Week, and a live streamed interview with Professor Susheila Nasta MBE (2020).
Helen is a qualified teacher (P.G.C.E.) and has over 15 years of experience as a lecturer at UK universities. In December 2024, Exeter College Oxford University unveiled a photo portrait of Thomas in honour of her achievements and contributions as part of a series to celebrate women of African or Caribbean descent connected with the college.
Alma Mater: Keele University (BA Hons), Oxford University (MPhil, DPhil)