Thomas is Lecturer in Spanish Studies in the College of Arts & Social Sciences. He is an emerging scholar of World Literature with a focus on Spanish and Latin American literature of the 20th and 21st Centuries.

His research analyses literatures’ various interactions with their ecologies (artistic, political, commercial, etc.) and traces their circulation and reception at national, regional or global strata. His research spans continents and numerous countries of Latin America as well as many genres, such as the novel, poetry, short story, essay and anthology. Through diverse case studies he uncovers the structure and dynamics of what he theorizes as the Latin American literature-world, and considers the function of specific genres (e.g., the essay and anthology) as instruments of canonization and literary revolutions.

Over the course of his research career he conducted archival research and conducted dozens of in-person interviews with authors in Chile, The United States, Portugal, and Spain. Some of these interviews have been published in Latin American Literature Today, Nagarí, Letra Urbana and also in the edited book McCrack: McOndo y el Crack y los destinos de la literatura latinoamericana.

His first monograph was published by Lexington Books in 2023, titled McOndo Revisited: The Making of a Generation Defining Anthology in the Latin American Literature-World. McOndo Revisited has been considered 'a brilliant contribution to the sociology of literature in Latin America and an exceptionally well researched and argued book' (Juan Poblete, UC Santa Cruz), as well as 'a major contribution to the study of one of the critical moments of Latin American literature’s ongoing struggle to be a part of world literature' (Ignacio M. Sánchez Prado, Washington University St Louis). 

Thomas has also worked in the Australian Public Service as a Senior Engagement and Policy Officer at the Australian Research Council (ARC), in research advocacy for the Australasian Consortium of Humanities Researchers & Centres (ACHRC), and in the private sector as a Senior Consultant and as a Defence contractor.

Thomas' main research areas include:

• Case studies in and theorisation of the Latin American literature-world.
• Chilean Literature as World Literature.
• World Literature Theories and Methodologies.
• Latino Literature and the New Latino Boom in the United States.

Thomas is available to supervise PhD, Masters, and Honours students in any of his fields of expertise. He is currently:

Primary Supervisor and Chair of Panel, Jéssica M. Andrade Tolentino (PhD) "The child gaze: imaginaries of childhood in contemporary Latin American literature."

Associate Supervisor, Hamid Farahmandian (PhD) "Irish Orientalism: The Iranian Eire of James Joyce."

PhD and BA (Hons) (ANU)

20th, and 21st Century Latin American fiction; World Literature theories and methodologies; Latin America's historical identity discourse; anthologies and literary canonization; author studies; Latino literature in the USA; Chilean literary history.