TRUTH THOMAS is a singer-songwriter, poet, and editor born in Knoxville, Tennessee and raised in Washington, DC. He studied creative writing at Howard University and earned his MFA in poetry at New England College. His poetry collections include: "Party of Black," "A Day of Presence," "Bottle of Life" and "Speak Water," winner of the 2013 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work in Poetry. His children's book, "My TV is Not the Boss of Me," illustrated by Cory Thomas, was a finalist for the Jessie Redmon Fauset Award in 2014. Thomas is the founder of Cherry Castle Publishing, and a former writer-in-residence for the Howard County Poetry and Literature Society (HoCoPoLitSo). His poems have appeared in over 100 publications, including "The 100 Best African American Poems" (edited by Nikki Giovanni), and been twice nominated for a Pushcart Prize.