At a downtown Manhattan poetry reading, Montana James Thomas is more likely to be discussing strange appetites, embarrassing human behaviour or the theatrical possibilities of language than his Hollywood family. The writer has developed a distinctive voice through two poetry books, essays and live events.
His father is Richard Thomas, the Emmy-winning actor remembered as John-Boy Walton in The Waltons. Yet his own work offers a revealing introduction: unsettling, playful poems shaped by art, music and city life. With Concerning the Dinner reaching its full-length release in 2025 and his reading series continuing into 2026, he has a creative record worth examining on its own terms.
Quick Bio
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Montana James Thomas |
| Date of Birth | 28 July 1996 |
| Age | 30 years (as of 2026) |
| Birthplace | Los Angeles, California, USA |
| Nationality | American |
| Current Residence | New York City, USA |
| Profession | Poet, Writer, Cultural Commentator |
| Father | Richard Thomas (American Actor) |
| Mother | Georgiana Bischoff |
| Siblings | Six siblings in his blended family |
| Education | Parsons School of Design |
| Known For | Poetry, Literary Writing and Cultural Commentary |
| Debut Poetry Book | POMERANIAN (2023) |
| Second Poetry Book | Concerning the Dinner (2025) |
| Notable Column | The Stink |
| Literary Reading Series | Straight Girls |
| Marital Status | Not publicly confirmed |
| Net Worth | Not publicly verified |
A New York Childhood, With Los Angeles Roots
Thomas was born in Los Angeles on 28 July 1996, but his identification with New York is deeply personal. In a 2023 interview with Office Magazine, he explained that his family moved east when he was about six and that he remembered turning seven in the city. He described himself as a New York kid, rather than treating Los Angeles as the place that defined his upbringing.
Manhattan’s streets, restaurants and social rituals supply poems that turn everyday scenes absurd or disturbing. His city brims with awkward encounters and unexpected comedy.
He attended Parsons in New York and studied fine arts, not creative writing. That distinction matters to his approach. He also explored video and installation work, bringing images and performance into his creative practice. Poetry became a more disciplined practice in adulthood.
How Pomeranian Established His Style
Published by Dirt Child Press in October 2023, POMERANIAN introduced a world in which ordinary experiences acquire the logic of eccentric fables. Pets and seemingly trivial incidents become vehicles for examining desire, failure and dependence.
The book’s humour does not eliminate its darker concerns. Thomas often places tenderness beside cruelty or turns a simple domestic detail into an unsettling image. The writing invites laughter without promising that the joke is harmless.
The title also reflects his interest in the peculiar bond between people and pets. In interviews, he has discussed how affection for dogs involves both genuine care and a strange imbalance of power. The Pomeranian interests him as an almost manufactured-looking creature, its name also recalling a European region.
Artist Fred Blauth designed the cover through a collaborative process with Thomas. The launch at KGB Bar’s Red Room brought the book directly to New York’s independent poetry audience.
Concerning the Dinner: Food, Language and Friction
His next major collection, Concerning the Dinner, expanded the emotional and formal range of his poetry. Where POMERANIAN leaned towards narrative fables, the later book moved into more personal, free-form writing, with New York life and uneasy intimacy occupying a larger place.
Food supplies its recurring framework. Meals, menus, excess and appetite become ways to consider relationships, consumption and the uncomfortable overlap between attraction and disgust. The imagery may be comic or extravagant, but the underlying subjects include vulnerability, social expectations and the effort to describe oneself without becoming trapped in autobiography.
A 2024 PAPER interview introduced the collection through an intentionally excessive shared meal. Thomas discussed the influence of Julia Child, popular music, television and the film La Grande Bouffe. Those references reveal how freely he draws on culture outside conventional poetry circles. Even restaurant menus become creative material.
The formal choices are equally telling. In a later interview, Thomas explained that he experimented with mock-archaic phrasing, nursery-rhyme cadences and the speech patterns of waiters. The apparent lightness makes room for darker subjects without requiring solemnity, a contrast that distinguishes the collection from straightforward confessional verse.
Why the Publication Dates Differ
The book was discussed publicly as a 2024 release, and several author biographies still carry that year. Its completed publication history is more complicated. In an October 2025 interview with neonpajamas, Thomas confirmed that a planned release with an independent publisher had fallen through and that he self-published the collection in August 2025.
He also described revising poems with editor Tilghman Goldsborough. The delayed release explains the conflicting publication dates.
Building a Stage for Other Writers
Reading aloud is not an afterthought in Thomas’s career. His work uses abrupt shifts and exaggerated rhythms suited to live performance. During the period surrounding POMERANIAN, he also hosted a reading series called Vile Beasts.
He later joined poet Riley Mac to create Straight Girls, a recurring reading event at KGB Bar’s Red Room in Manhattan. Launched in October 2024, the series combines carefully chosen writers with a deliberately playful atmosphere. Its organisers favour performances that feel lively and communal rather than ceremonious.
An August 2026 account of the project recorded 19 readings and 95 participating writers since its launch. He is also helping fellow writers find an audience.
The setting matters: KGB’s Red Room hosts intimate literary gatherings where authors meet their listeners directly. In an era when poems circulate as brief online excerpts, that sustained public encounter gives the writing a different kind of life.
Why Smell Matters to His Cultural Writing
Outside poetry, Thomas writes The Stink for Byline, a column exploring fragrance, memory, desire and the smells of New York. It reflects his interest in messy details people overlook.
His essays treat scent as more than a consumer preference. An orange blossom note can open a discussion about summer romance, while the fragrance lingering on clothing can trigger questions about memory and intimacy. He is also interested in the smells that respectable city life tries to conceal, particularly the mixed aromas of streets, homes and food.
Thomas previously co-hosted the fragrance podcast Top Notes. In March 2026, perfume house Sarah Baker featured his perspective on one of its fragrances, demonstrating that his interest extends into specialist fragrance commentary. His poetry similarly treats sensory experience as culturally revealing.
The Richard Thomas Connection, Without the Confusion
Montana is the son of Richard Thomas and Georgiana Bischoff. His father became widely recognised through The Waltons, winning a Primetime Emmy in 1973 for his portrayal of the aspiring writer John-Boy. Richard subsequently worked extensively across theatre, film and television, including The Americans and Ozark.
Richard married Georgiana in 1994 following his divorce from his first wife, Alma Gonzales. Montana is the only child Richard and Georgiana share. The actor’s wider family includes Richard Francisco Thomas and triplets Barbara, Gwyneth and Pilar from his first marriage, plus Georgiana’s daughters Brooke and Kendra from an earlier relationship.
The family link explains some of the public curiosity about the younger writer, but it should not obscure the distinction between their careers. The father is known chiefly for acting; the son has pursued poetry, visual arts and cultural criticism. His career needs no invented rivalry with his father.
A Working Method That Crosses Artistic Boundaries
Thomas has named influences ranging from poet Russell Edson and writer Lydia Davis to Sofia Coppola, Roald Dahl, Azealia Banks and jazz musicians. These influences reflect his fascination with timing, exaggeration and shifting moods.
He has described collecting impressions, arranging groups of poems to see how they interact and taking notes during long walks. His routine also involves writing regularly, sometimes drawing material from dreams or television dialogue. Such habits help street observation coexist with fantasy.
In 2025, he said another manuscript was already in progress. No verified publication date has been announced for that work, so his established output remains the two collections, magazine contributions and public readings.
Conclusion
Thomas’s career is better understood through the experiences he turns into language than through his surname. From the fables of POMERANIAN to the unruly meals of Concerning the Dinner, he has developed a recognisable interest in humour, discomfort and the details of daily life. His readings and fragrance writing extend that curiosity beyond print.
FAQs
Who is Montana James Thomas?
Montana James Thomas is an American poet, writer and reading-series organiser based in New York City. He is the author of POMERANIAN and Concerning the Dinner, writes the scent-focused column The Stink for Byline and co-hosts the literary event Straight Girls.
How old is Montana James Thomas?
He was born on 28 July 1996 and turned 30 in July 2026. Although born in Los Angeles, he moved to New York as a young child and has described the city as the place where he grew up.
Is Montana James Thomas related to Richard Thomas?
Yes. Richard Thomas, best known as John-Boy Walton in The Waltons, is his father, and Georgiana Bischoff is his mother. Montana is their only child together and belongs to a larger blended family of seven children.
What books has Montana James Thomas written?
His debut poetry chapbook, POMERANIAN, was published by Dirt Child Press in 2023. His first full-length collection, Concerning the Dinner, was originally associated with a 2024 release but was self-published in August 2025 following a change in publishing plans.
Is Montana James Thomas married, and what is his net worth?
There is no sufficiently reliable public confirmation of a marriage or a spouse, and no credible verified figure for his personal net worth. His interviews focus mainly on writing, artistic influences and literary events rather than private finances or relationship status.
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