Reading & Signing: Bestselling Author/Poet on Self-love | The Booksmith

Submitted by the Event Organizer

Moving away from Thomas’ previous themes of love and heartbreak, “Every Word You Cannot Say” explores loss, growth and self-love, and is the first wholly original book of poetry Thomas has written in several years.

A hallmark of Thomas’ popular poetry, each poem is written directly to the reader, creating intimacy and space where readers can feel empowered to speak the truths that are hardest to say. “May this book find the person it needs to,” says Thomas. “May they find every word they were looking for.”
Besides being about Thomas’ own struggles with depression, anxiety and self-doubt, and the things everyone struggles with at some point, “Every Word You Cannot Say” is a response to today’s incredibly divided, isolated world.

Thomas believes that we can communicate more and faster than ever before, but we’re talking to each other less than ever, and that makes us feel afraid and alone. He believes that we all, “Compare our behind-the-scenes to everyone else’s highlights reel. This book is about the things we can’t say to each other, but more importantly, the things we can’t seem to say to ourselves.”

Because Thomas grew up during the turbulent time of apartheid in South Africa, his work is in part a reaction to living in an environment obsessed with race and classification. As a result, he writes things that could be true of anyone who reads them, regardless of their age, race, location or gender. He made a rule for his first collection of poetry, one that he has kept: that he would only ever talk about “you” the reader, the human being, and not the things other people might use to define or classify someone.

Disclaimer: Please double check event information with the event organizer as events can be canceled, details can change after they are added to our calendar, and errors do occur.