A project from Texas Poet Laureate Amanda Johnston, Praisesong for the People: Poems from the Heart and Soul of Texas is an anthology of over 70 poets across Texas. Each poem celebrates everyday people in the Lone Star State and the communities offering small kindnesses to one another. Contributing poets Naomi Shihab Nye and Andrea “Vocab” Sanderson join the panel.
Thank you to Alamo Colleges District for generously sponsoring this session. Alamo Colleges District’s continued investment in dialogue, scholarship, and community impact strengthens learning across our city. We appreciated their support of spaces where ideas, history, and voices can be shared and celebrated.
Photo Credit: Cindy Elizabeth
Amanda Johnston is a writer, visual artist, the 61st Texas Poet Laureate, and founder of Torch Literary Arts. She is the editor of Praisesong for the People: Poems from the Heart and Soul of Texas.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of the Author
Naomi Shihab Nye of San Antonio has been writing poems since she was six. She believes all people have a “poetry channel” inside, whether they turn it on a lot or not. It’s there. And any one of us could write a book about our own family—stories, mysteries, questions unending.
Naomi joins the Book Festival as a contributor to Praisesong for the People: Poems from the Heart and Soul of Texas.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of the Author
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. Sanderson was a slam poet from 2004 to 2008 and a member of four teams that competed at the National Poetry Slam. 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 & Letters Award by Friends of the San Antonio Public Library. Sanderson currently serves as the education and community engagement coordinator for the Carver Cultural Community Center. She is a former Poet Laureate of San Antonio, Texas. In 2021, she received an Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellowship. Andrea’s work is included in Praisesong for the People: Poems from the Heart and Soul of Texas.
Saúl Hernández is a 2025 National Endowment for the Arts Fellow. His debut poetry collection, How to Kill a Goat & Other Monsters, is a 2025 Lambda Literary Award Winner, a Writers’ League of Texas Discovery Award Winner, was longlisted for a PEN Open Book Award, and received the Institute of Letters’ honor-winner for First Book of Poetry. He’s the winner of both the 2022 Pleiades Prufer Poetry Prize judged by Joy Priest & the 2021 Two Sylvias Press Chapbook Prize judged by Victoria Chang. Saúl’s work is featured in American Poetry Review, Poetry Daily, The Slowdown, Literary Hub, & elsewhere.
