Andrea Sanderson
Andrea “Vocab” Sanderson found a typewriter while visiting her aunt in Corpus Christi at the age of six, and typed her first poem to her mother. The excitement and anticipation she felt for sharing her words never waned. Sanderson attended James Madison High School, began songwriting, and co-founded a hip hop music ministry Lyrically Spiritually Committed (LSC) in 1999, her senior year. After graduation, she began traveling and performing music and poetry. Sanderson left her hometown of San Antonio, Texas for the first time to feature at DePauw University in Indiana. She understood the full influence and impact of music in her life. In 2001, she began attending Free Verse Open Mic poetry, later becoming a co-host for the event as well for its successor 2nd Verse.
In 2005, she began a career in slam poetry and traveled to Albuquerque. In 2007, Andrea organized her first emerging artist showcase Soul Portico. She became a mentor for teen poets in 2009 and co-founded Fresh Ink Youth Slam youth open mic and certified slam. In 2009, Andrea also began working for Gemini Ink, a San Antonio based literary non-profit with a commitment to empowering the voices in the community to tell their own narratives.
From San Antonio, Texas to a trip to Abu Dhabi in 2015, Andrea has led workshops students of all ages, as well as Air Force personnel stationed abroad. In 2015 she joined singer-songwriter and created the five piece neo soul band, The Foreign Arm. In 2016, her poetry was published in, The Texas Observer. Since that time, she has gone on to be published in several anthologies. Her writing is archived in the Ozuna Library in Palo Alto College. Sanderson was among 300 voices commemorating the San Antonio’s tricentennial celebrations, featuring in two Common Currents performances. Throughout her arts career Sanderson found her place in theater amongst several dance companies including Austin collaborating with UpRise! Productions in Frontera festivals to San Antonio based Arte y Pasión performing 2nd Annual Mayor’s Ball during Dream Week SA 2018.
In March of 2018, she assembled an all women cast for a sold-out theatre show, The Bad Mama Jama Mixtape: A Woman’s Soundtrack to Life, at the historic Little Carver. Over the years Sanderson has been commissioned by: The San Antonio Museum of Art, Briscoe Western Art Museum, and The McNay Art Museum for her unique style of performance poetry. In 2018 The San Antonio Current, The Rivard Report, and The San Antonio Magazine wrote feature articles chronicling Sanderson’s role in the San Antonio arts scene. On June 19, 2019, Andrea Sanderson was invited to feature during the inauguration ceremony held at Municipal Plaza for San Antonio’s City Council and Mayor Ron Nirenberg with her original poetry. She received a standing ovation for her poem, Rosary Bead, that she penned for the mayor. In 2019, Sanderson won the People’s Choice Award grant from The Artist Foundation of San Antonio which funded her latest album She Tastes Like Music, released in November of 2019. In February of 2020 she released her debut book of poetry She Lives In Music, published by Flower Song Books. Soon Sanderson’s journey will lead her to London to further collaborate with singer Adelaide MacKenzie, at several events including Blessed Souls UK, sharing music and poetry from her album.
For more information visit www.andreavocabsanderson.com
IG: @Vocabulous
