How Andrea “Vocab” Sanderson Found Her Voice and Helped Shape San Antonio’s 

Andrea “Vocab” Sanderson has been writing for nearly as long as she can remember.

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She was six years old when she sat at a typewriter and wrote a poem for her mother. At 13, she stood in front of an audience for the first time and recited a poem she had written for a friend’s memorial service. Years later, poetry would take the San Antonio native from local slam stages and classrooms to public art installations, recording studios, and one of the city’s most prominent cultural positions.

In April 2020, Sanderson became San Antonio’s fifth Poet Laureate and the first Black woman in the city’s history to hold the title.

The appointment marked a significant moment for a city where Black artists have long contributed to its cultural identity, particularly on the East Side and through institutions like the Carver Community Cultural Center. For Sanderson, it also put an artist whose work frequently explores Black identity, ancestry, the body, grief, and belonging into a position designed to bring poetry directly into public life.

But poetry has never existed in isolation for Sanderson.

Known professionally as Vocab, she’s also a singer, spoken word performer, teaching artist, playwright, and musician whose creative practice moves between poetry, hip-hop, R&B, jazz, and blues. Across those forms, she has built a body of work rooted in the experiences that shaped her, including growing up in San Antonio and tracing a family history that stretches across Texas, Louisiana, and the African diaspora.

From a Kid Who Loved Words to “Vocab”

Even Sanderson’s stage name goes back to her childhood fascination with language.

“Vocab” grew out of her habit of reading the dictionary and building an unusually large vocabulary. Writing came early, but discovering the kind of poetry that would eventually shape her career happened in time. 

In 2004, Sanderson saw San Antonio poets Anthony Flores and Amalia Ortiz perform slam poetry. The following year, she joined a slam team herself. Spoken word gave her a form that matched something already present in her writing: music.

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Her poems are often built to be heard as much as read. Rhythm, rhyme, alliteration, wordplay, and repetition move through her work, reflecting the influence of the musical traditions she also performs.

For more than two decades, Sanderson has shared stages with figures including poet Nikki Giovanni, scholar Cornel West, and actor Phylicia Rashad. Her poetry has appeared in publications and collections including The Texas Observer, Pariah Anthology, Sycorax’s Daughters, and Soundbite Vol. 3.

In February 2020, she published her debut poetry collection, She Lives in Music.

Two months later, San Antonio named its next Poet Laureate.

Becoming San Antonio’s First Black Woman Poet Laureate

When Sanderson was appointed in April 2020, she stepped into the role at an unusual moment. While the COVID-19 pandemic had brought performances and public gatherings to a halt, Sanderson found other ways to make the position accessible.

She created online writing groups for young people and adults, launched weekly writing prompts, and partnered on a letter-writing toolkit with the San Antonio Museum of Art to encourage civic participation.

Her poetry also became part of San Antonio’s physical landscape.

Public projects have included Elevated Melanin in Peacock Alley and Sunny Salutations at Poet’s Pointe. She also collaborated with artist Barbara Felix on Permission to Play, a multidisciplinary public art project displayed on Commerce Street and at San Antonio International Airport.

From The Seasoned Woman to New Music

Since completing her term as Poet Laureate in 2023, Sanderson has continued writing, performing, and finding new ways to bring poetry and music together.

In March 2025, she released her latest book, The Seasoned Woman, a poetry collection that explores the different stages of a woman’s life, moving from young womanhood toward what Sanderson describes as the “sagacious Queen.”

The book grew out of Sanderson’s multidisciplinary theater project of the same name, created with opera singer Lubana Al-Quntar and co-commissioned by San Antonio’s Carver Community Cultural Center and Art2Action.

The Seasoned Woman draws on rhythm and musicality while exploring womanhood, aging, spirituality, and the experiences women carry with them over time.

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Sanderson has continued making music, too. In July 2026, she released a collaborative album with musician Rob Cockfield, extending the interplay between poetry and music that has defined her work for more than two decades.

More than 20 years after discovering San Antonio’s slam poetry scene, Sanderson is still growing as a poet, musician, performer, playwright, and teaching artist.