Michael Damian Thomas


Michael Damian Thomas is an American magazine editor and podcaster. Thomas has won nine Hugo Awards, a World Fantasy Award, a British Fantasy Award, and a Parsec Award as co-publisher and co-editor-in-chief of Uncanny Magazine with Lynne M. Thomas. He has also been active as an advocate for disabled children in Illinois.
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Early life

Thomas graduated from the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, a public magnet school in Aurora, Illinois, in 1992. In 2018, IMSA gave him the Alumni Titan Award, recognizing his contributions as "an enthusiastic and energetic champion who has invested significantly in the IMSA community". He graduated from Parkland College in 1998, and worked on the Parkland literary journal.

Career

Thomas was managing editor at Apex Magazine from 2012 until 2013, and an associate editor at Mad Norwegian Press. In 2014, he and Lynne M. Thomas began Uncanny Magazine, as "a home for emotional, strongly written, experimental stories and provocative nonfiction" and poetry. He is co-host of the podcast of the same name, and has contributed to other podcasts, including the SF Squeecast with Elizabeth Bear, Paul Cornell, Seanan McGuire, and Catherynne M. Valente, and Down and Safe, a Blake’s 7 podcast with Amal El-Mohtar, Scott Lynch, and L. M. Myles.
Thomas has been the co-editor of several collections of stories and essays, including Glitter & Mayhem, and Queers Dig Time Lords: A Celebration of Doctor Who by the LGBTQ Fans Who Love It, and The Best of Uncanny.
Thomas has taken a particular interest in disability issues. He chaired the City of DeKalb Advisory Commission on Disabilities and the DeKalb County Local Interagency Networking Council, and served on the planning committee of the Aicardi Syndrome Family Conference. In 2017, the Thomases and Mary Robinette Kowal crafted the "SF/F Convention Accessibility Pledge", a list of three basic accessibility requirements for signers' participation in conventions as participants, panelists, or guests. In 2018 and 2019, Uncanny Magazine published the theme issues Disabled People Destroy Science Fiction and Disabled People Destroy Fantasy, exclusively featuring the works of disabled editors and authors.
Thomas became sole editor and publisher of Uncanny Magazine in 2025. He is also content editor of Wil Wheaton's short fiction podcast, ''It's Story Time With Wil Wheaton.''

Awards

Thomas has been nominated for multiple Hugo Awards between 2013 and 2025, for work on Apex Magazine, Uncanny Magazine, and the anthology Queers Dig Time Lords. He has been nominated for the World Fantasy Award nine times, and for Locus Awards nine times.
Awards won by Michael Damian Thomas include the following:

Personal life

Beginning in 2017, the Thomases lived in Urbana, Illinois with their daughter Caitlin, who has Aicardi syndrome. Caitlin Thomas died in 2024, at the age of 21, at Lurie Children's Hospital. The Thomases announced their amicable divorce in a joint 2025 Instagram post.