Poets
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Andrea “Vocab” Sanderson
Andrea “Vocab” Sanderson is a poet, singer, and hip hop artist. A San Antonio native, she is the author of the collection She Lives In Music (Flower Song Press, 2020). Sanderson was a slam poet from 2004-2008, and a member of four teams that competed at the National Poetry Slam. In 2015 she traveled internationally to Abu Dhabi performing and teaching at Al Dhafra Airbase, for the troops stationed and serving active duty. In December of 2016, she was a guest teacher for Black Women, Beyonce & Popular Culture, at University of Texas at San Antonio, a course which gained international attention and is featured in various publications worldwide. She was also a featured teaching artist on the KLRN show Arts which aired in February of 2017. More recently her song, “What Will It Take” commissioned by the City of San Antonio helped to launch a COVID-19 safety campaign that can be seen and heard on radio and television. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including Dream Voice, People’s Choice Award, Best Live Entertainment/Band Musician of the Year by the 17th Annual SEA Awards, and The Arts and Letters Award by Friends of San Antonio Public Library in 2020. Sanderson currently serves as a Teaching Artist for Gemini Ink since 2009 and is an artist in residence with The Carver Community Cultural Center for the 2020-2021 season. She is the Poet Laureate of San Antonio, Texas. In 2021, she received an Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellowship.
Poet Laureate of San Antonio, TX
In 2021, Andrea “Vocab” Sanderson was named an Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellow. Sanderson will launch The Echo Project, an experience that introduces young artists to their community in an in-depth and personal way, fostering an exchange of social currency, wisdom, and context to push their thinking and art through an oral history project, creative workshops, collaborations with local audio and visual artists, and live performances. The project will connect these young artists with community members, including elders, historians, leaders, veteran artists, activists, and educators. The Echo Project aims to create a communal experience uniting young artists with stakeholders who will provide perspective, background, and inspiration to create art that speaks directly to their identity, using their powerful voices to emphasize the importance of storytelling.