Dr. Sidney Thomspon is the author of the award-winning trilogy of historical novels about Bass Reeves, a legendary African-American lawman of the Old West. The first book of this trilogy, Follow the Angels, Follow the Doves (Bison Books, 2020), received the 2021 International Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society Book Award for Historical Fiction, the Will Rogers Medallion Award for Western Fiction, the Oklahoma Book Award for Fiction, the Spur Award for Best Western Novel, the Peacemaker Award for Best First Western Novel, and was named a finalist for the Next Generation Indie Book Award for Historical Fiction. The second book, Hell on the Border (Bison Books, 2021), was named a finalist for the National Indie Excellence Award for Western Fiction. Both are currently being adapted for the Paramount+ miniseries Lawmen: Bass Reeves. The third and final book of this series,  The Forsaken and the Dead (Bison Books, 2023), was named the National Indie Excellence Award Winner for Western Fiction and a finalist for the Foreword INDIES Award for Historical Fiction. 

His other works include a collection of poetry titled You/Wee: Poems from a Father (Prolific Press, 2018); Sideshow: Stories (River City, 2006), winner of Foreword INDIES Silver Award for Short Story Collection of the Year; and Kudzu’s Enormous New Life (Atmosphere Press, 2022), a middle-grade novel about the unlikely friendship that develops on a Mississippi farm between a precocious chipmunk, a stray German shepherd, and a three-year-old boy on the autism spectrum.

Currently, Dr. Thompson works out of Texas Christian University, serving as a Writing Consultant for the William L. Adams Center for Writing and a professor of composition and creative writing for the English Department and African-American literature for the Master of Liberal Arts program. He holds an M.F.A. in creative writing (fiction) from the University of Arkansas and a Ph.D. in American literature from the University of North Texas.