Richard Thoma
Richard Thoma was an American poet and playwright, born on June 17, 1902, known for his involvement in the literary scene of Paris during the post-World War I era. He was part of a vibrant community that included notable writers such as Henry Miller and Ezra Pound and was mentored by the French writer Jean Cocteau. Although Thoma did not achieve widespread fame, he was recognized within literary circles, contributing to magazines like the New Review, Morada, and Transition, and publishing his first poetry collection, *Green Chaos*, in 1931 in a limited edition of signed copies.
Thoma's work often reflected his personal connections, with poems dedicated to friends and fellow writers. His play, *Tragedy in Blue*, published in 1936, explored the life of the French nobleman Gilles de Rais. Despite his early productivity, Thoma's literary output waned after the 1930s, and by the early 1940s, he had relocated to Los Angeles, where he worked as an accountant. He later distanced himself from his Parisian past, expressing discontent with the attention his mentor Cocteau attracted. Thoma passed away in New York City in 1974, leaving behind a body of work that remains relatively obscure.
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Richard Thoma
Writer
- Born: June 17, 1902
- Died: October 1, 1974
- Place of death: New York, New York
Biography
Poet and playwright Richard Thoma was born on June 17, 1902; little else is known about his early life. He was one of many American writers who moved to Paris at the end of World War I. Although he never achieved the fame of some American expatriate writers, he was reasonably well known in Paris. He traveled in the same literary circles as writers Henry Miller, Aldous Huxley, Harr Crosby, and Ezra Pound, and he was a protégé of French writer Jean Cocteau. He played an active role in the literary discussions of the time, and he collaborated with Harold L. Salemson and New Review founder Samuel Putnam to write a response to the call for a revolution in writing that was proposed by the editors of Transition magazine. A short time later, he went to work for Putnam as an associate editor, a position he held for two years. Thoma also earned money as a translator while he lived in Paris.
Thoma’s work has remained somewhat obscure, mostly because his writing was published in limited editions of no more than one hundred copies. As well, his productivity appears to have declined after the 1930’s. By the early 1940’s, Thoma was living in Los Angeles, where he worked as an accountant for a manufacturing or office supply company. Very little is known about Thoma’s life after this point, although it appears that Miller briefly lived as Thoma’s guest in an apartment above the garage of his Los Angeles home.
Thoma’s first volume of poetry, Green Chaos, was published in 1931. The volume was published by the New Review Press in an edition of one hundred signed copies. Many of the poems had previously been published in various magazines such as the New Review, Morada, Blues, and Pagany. Thoma also contributed work to Tambour, This Quarter, and Transition. Many of the poems that appear in Green Chaos are dedicated to his literary acquaintances. The poem “To a Suicide” was dedicated to Thoma’s friend Crosby, who committed suicide, and the poems “Afric Blues” and “Tropic Song” were written for fellow writers Pound and Huxley, respectively. The volume ends with a long poem about Thoma’s mentor, Cocteau.
In 1936, Thoma published Tragedy in Blue, a play with a medieval theme that followed the life of French nobleman, Gilles de Rais, who had aided Joan of Arc. The play was published as a limited edition in Paris and was later privately reprinted in Los Angeles in 1944. Thoma’s later poetry collections, such as Green Death and The Book of Lambda, contained poems that had been published elsewhere. Later in his life, Thoma denounced his years in Paris, saying he was driven from the city by people approaching him in cafes to argue about his mentor, Cocteau. Thoma died in New York City in 1974.