The Syncreate Podcast: Empowering Creativity
Welcome to Syncreate, where we explore the intersections between creativity, psychology, and spirituality. Our goal is to demystify the creative process and expand the boundaries of what it means to be creative.
Creativity. It’s a word we throw around all the time, but what does it really mean? On the Syncreate Podcast, we share stories of the creative journey. We talk to changemakers, visionaries and everyday creatives working in a wide array of fields and disciplines. Our goal is to explore creativity in all its facets, and to gain a better understanding of the creative process – from imagination to innovation and everything in between.
The Syncreate Podcast is hosted by Melinda Rothouse, PhD. She helps individuals and organizations bring their creative dreams and visions to life through coaching, consulting, workshops, retreats, and now, this podcast. She's written two books on creativity, including Syncreate: A Guide to Navigating the Creative Process for Individuals, Teams, and Communities (winner of a Silver Nautilus Award for Creativity and Innovation), with Charlotte Gullick. She's also a musician (singer-songwriter and bass player) and photographer based in Austin, Texas.
The Syncreate Podcast: Empowering Creativity
Episode 52: Texas Poet Laureate Amanda Johnston
Amanda Johnston is the 2024 Texas Poet Laureate, the first Black woman appointed to the role by the Texas State Legislature. She is also the recipient of a 2024 Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellowship. She is the author of two chapbooks, GUAP and Lock & Key, and the full-length collection Another Way to Say Enter. Her work has appeared in numerous online and print publications.
Named one of Blavity’s "13 Black Poets You Should Know," Amanda’s work has been featured on Bill Moyers, the Poetry Society of America’s series In Their Own Words, The Moth Radio Hour, and the Academy of American Poets Poem-a-Day series. She is the Founder of Torch Literary Arts, which amplifies Black women’s voices through publishing opportunities and an annual writer’s retreat. In this episode, we discuss her literary efforts and activities, as well as her creative process, and she recites two of her notable poems.
For our Creativity Pro-Tip, we encourage you to build your creative community by going to events, connecting with other artists, and supporting your fellow creatives. The more you connect with your community, the more opportunities arise.
Credits: The Syncreate podcast is created and hosted by Melinda Rothouse, and produced at Record ATX studios with in collaboration Michael Osborne and 14th Street Studios in Austin, Texas. Syncreate logo design by Dreux Carpenter.
If you enjoy this episode, you might also like our conversations in Episode 6: Gratitude, Gentleness, and Generosity with Mayela Padilla Manasjan, Episode 9: Music and Psychology: "The Pocket" Experience with Dr. Jeff Mims, and Episode 12: Creativity, Inclusivity and Community Theater with Sharanya Rao.
At Syncreate, we're here to support your creative endeavors. If you have an idea for a project or a new venture, and you’re not sure how to get it off the ground, find us at syncreate.org. Our book, also called Syncreate, walks you through the stages of the creative process so you can take action on your creative goals. We also offer resources, creative process tools, and coaching to help you bring your work to the world. You can find more information on our website, where you can also find all of our podcast episodes. Find and connect with us on social media and YouTube under Syncreate. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and leave us a review!
Episode-specific hyperlinks:
Praisesong for the People Website
Academy of American Poets / poets.org
Show / permanent hyperlinks:
Melinda: Welcome to Syncreate, a show where we explore the intersections between creativity, psychology, and spirituality. We believe everyone has the capacity to create. Our goal is to demystify the process and expand the boundaries of what it means to be creative. We talk with visionaries and changemakers and everyday creatives working in a wide range of fields and mediums, from arts to science, technology and business.
We aim to illuminate the creative process from imagination to innovation and everything in between. I'm Melinda Rothouse and I help individuals and organizations bring their creative dreams and visions to life. At Syncreate, we're here to support your creative endeavors. If you have an idea for a project or new venture and you're not quite sure how to get it off the ground, reach out to us at syncreate.org.
Our book, also called Syncreate, walks you through the stages of the creative process so you can take action on your creative goals. We also offer resources, creative process tools and coaching to help you bring your work to the world. Today I am so honored and delighted and excited to be talking with you, Amanda Johnston, the current Texas Poet Laureate for 2024 and founder of Torch Literary Arts, a nonprofit organization that aims to amplify black women's voices through publication opportunities, events and an annual writer's retreat, which I know you just finished recently and love to hear more about that. So thank you for being with us today.
Amanda: Thank you so much for having me.
Melinda: Yeah. It's great. And our mutual colleague, Charlotte, my Syncreate business partner, connected us. So I'm just, thanks Charlotte!
Amanda: Thank you, Charlotte.
Melinda: Thank you for making the connection. And, gosh, there's so much to talk about, but maybe we can start off with what you were just sharing with me that you recently won a major fellowship.
Amanda: Yes. I'm super excited. I am a 2024 Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellow. And yeah, it's a big honor. And it's funded by the Mellon Foundation. They selected 22 poet laureates from across the country to do special projects in their region. So my region is all of Texas as Texas Poet laureate, and it comes with $50,000 in support to administer the program. So I'm excited for my project.
Melinda: That is amazing. And, you know, I've been listening to some of the other podcasts that you've done and just thinking about you know, your role as the poet laureate. And now with this fellowship, just the opportunities that open up there to, you know, get the word out.
Amanda: Absolutely. But I'm most excited about the opportunities that I can make for others.
Melinda: Yeah.
Amanda: I feel that I am doing my most important work when I'm in service through my art to other artists, to the community, to the people. So my program for Texas is Praise Song for the People. And it's commissioning 70 poets from across the state in the different, seven different regions of Texas to write praise poems that are celebrating everyday Texans.
So think of the people who touch us and impact our lives on a regular basis. So not celebrities or notable figures. Unless that is your neighbor who like helped you get the trash and you know.
Melinda: Exactly.
Amanda: Go help with your car and.
Melinda: You never know.
Amanda: It could be. Which would be a great praise poem. But really thinking about those people who don't often get their flowers. And as poets, we can give them their flowers through these praise poems. We'll be collecting those poems between now and the end of September. The poets have already, it's by invitation. So those poets have been invited, and then they'll be published on the website praisesongforthepeople.com. And then there'll be readings in October and early November across the state.
Melinda: Amazing. Wow.
Amanda: But we don't want to hold it for just those poems. The goal is really to celebrate everyone and bring poetry back into our regular lives. So there will be, you know, how-to guides for folks to write praise poems. I encourage everyone to write a poem and share it with the person that you're writing it about.
And then in the spring, we'll have plans for all K-12 schools to have programs for their students to write praise poems and share them.
Melinda: How wonderful.
Amanda: April is National Poetry Month, so it's perfect time.
Melinda: Yes. Wow. So it just it seems like the energy is just building and building and, you know, I'm really, just so excited with everything that you're doing to raise awareness about poetry in general, the power of poetry, elevating black women's voices.
And, you know, one of the things that when I was kind of researching for our conversation is, you know, in the Black Writer Studio podcast episode that you did, you were talking about the connection between writing and poetry and activism, you know, and this idea that through our voices, through writing, we can make a positive difference in the world.
Amanda: Absolutely. First thing is, you know, as an individual, I feel most free when I'm able to create freely. So having spaces that support the arts, obviously poetry and literature are close to my heart, but whatever your practice is or you're curious about, I think it is a good sign when the community is nurturing that. Encouraging that. Because that's allowing you space for your freedom of expression.
Melinda: For sure.
Amanda: And then when you're brave enough to share that work, then your community can be inspired and encouraged to do the same.
Melinda: Yes. And that's something that Charlotte and I talk about so much in Syncreate, is that none of us are working or existing in a vacuum. Right? We need the community. We need to support each other and receive that support. So I know you've told some of these stories before, but for our listeners, I'd love to hear you know, a little bit more how you got going as a poet, how you got started. And I know you have a great story there with Kentucky and the Appalachian poet.
Amanda: Oh, yes. So I did not start writing poetry as a child. Some people can remember writing poems when they’re very young, but I read poetry. I also, you know, I'm a firm believer that poetry is the, how we learn language and to communicate, right? As, as infants, someone is singing us songs, sharing us stories. Those Golden Book nursery rhymes. Right?
That's how we're introduced to language and how we learn to communicate. So poetry was always in my life, and my mother, bless her, gave me, Shel Silverstein. And I always will credit Shel, because that was just another level beyond the nursery rhymes. It's like, wait a minute. Yeah. I didn't have the language for it then as a child, but I, this is more skillful is what I was noticing. I was like there's something extra here.
Melinda: Yeah.
Amanda: So I was really drawn to those and I read them well into middle school. And I still do, even in graduate programs I would teach Shel Silverstein poems now looking at the craft, you know, and just his mastery of the, of that, of the art form is incredible
So I always read poetry, but it wasn't until I was an adult, and moved from Austin. I was raised in Austin, but moved to, to Kentucky with my husband, who was stationed in the military, and we were there at Fort Knox, and I was working at Elizabethtown Community College. Shout out to E-Town. And I started writing this as a way to be almost therapeutic for myself.
You know, it was such a big transition. And I shared it with a colleague who's now a dear, dear friend. And she encouraged me to come to the writing group that they had on campus. And there were faculty and students who would come together and share poetry. So I went and it was a, you know, a flame lit up in me. Truly.
Melinda: Yeah, wow.
Amanda: And it, it ignited something that was already there and it was impossible to turn it off.
Melinda: Amazing.
Amanda: So then I started going around and reading anywhere I could; open mics, I went to slams, I performed in… I went anywhere that poetry was happening. And yes, the Appalachian Poets, their incredible community of black writers and writers of color who are in Kentucky, founded by Frank X Walker, Crystal Wilkinson, Nikky Finney, I mean icons of poetry.
And they took notice of my work and invited me to join the collective. So that was a profound moment in my life. But they also encouraged me to apply to Cave Canem, and Cave Canem Foundation is an organization for black poets that has an international reach. And it came in divine timing as well. We lived in Kentucky for five years, and when I was accepted to come Cave Canem, it was in 2005, right before moving back to Texas, back to Austin.
And I was concerned, you know, would my work resonate outside of Kentucky, because that was the only place I had been writing. And, was I a quote-unquote real poet? Or did I just have a group of nice friends? [Laughter].
Melinda: Right, right, right. Exactly. The real test.
Amanda: Read my work! Yeah. So when I was accepted to Cave Canem, kind of I took that as a sign that, no, poetry is something that is, part of my destiny. And this is the work that I need to be cultivating and nurturing. And, yeah, after that, it, like I said, it was impossible to turn off that flame does not, can not be extinguished.
Melinda: You were on the path. Yeah. And I love what you said, not only about the support from the community, but that you put yourself out there and you went out to the readings and the slams and, you know, and as creatives, you know, we do have to put ourselves out there.
Amanda: Yes you do. That's why I said, first and foremost, you have to do the work for yourself. And that's vulnerable. In a room alone, it still takes a lot of courage. If you're going to honestly look at yourself and your work on and off the page, and I applaud you, anyone who does that, it is life-changing.
But then when you're brave enough to share it and receive it, right, it's reciprocal. You have to go out and you, you see the community or you imagine the community you want to be a part of. Guess what, it takes you being in it and people showing up to make that community. So just as much as you want to share your work, go and listen and receive the work that other people are sharing. You know?
Melinda: For sure. I mean, you know, and sometimes you have to sort of get over that initial barrier. Like, I'm a singer. And when I was a kid, I was super shy, but I really wanted to sing and I would get up and I would shake, but I still did it, just like you're saying, you know, there's a, there's a fire, there's a drive, you know, that pushes us through that hesitation and that vulnerability and look where it's taking you.
Amanda: Absolutely. And, you know, when you put yourself out there, that's how people can find you and you can find your people.
Melinda: Yes, exactly.
Amanda: And you have to learn who you are. And the only way you do that is by living the life that you have.
Melinda: Yes. Right.
Amanda: Was it Mary Oliver… What are you going to do with…
Melinda: You're one wild and precious…
Amanda: Wild and precious life. Yes, exactly.
Melinda: Definitely. Great. So, you know, this show is so much about creative process and kind of demystifying the creative process because, you know, there's a lot of misconceptions. Only certain people are creative or, or things like that, and we're really wanting to push against that.
So I'm curious. Well, I guess two things. One, you know, what is it for you about the language of poetry? I mean, I know you do other kinds of writing and you support other types of writing, but what is it that's special about poetry, specifically in what it can sort of convey emotionally, perhaps?
Amanda: Well, for me, I'm always drawn to the work that surprises and intrigues me. When you sit down to write or read something, right, if you already know how it's going to end, then most times it's, it's not that intriguing, right?
But when you read something that surprises you or challenges you even to think about something a little deeper, a little differently, then I feel that I'm, I'm in community and connecting with the reader that I can't even see. Or the writer that I can't even see. And it's almost like you wrote this just for me.
Right? Because now I'm able to sit with this and discover things about myself because of what I have read. Because of what you shared. That uniqueness in how writing translates and then becomes timeless without borders or barriers, right. Praise the translators who do that great work so that we can have more, right, that connects us.
That for me is, it's the surprise and the, the deeper contemplation that comes having written and read something.
Melinda: Yes, yes.
Amanda: And then just sonically. And in the same way you're a singer, I hear the music in poetry. So when I'm writing, I can't move forward without reading it out loud. Now, if it's just to myself, you know, that's fine. My family will get frustrated with me. They’re my first readers, of course. And when I say readers, I mean listeners. You guys are like, give it to me. I'm like, no, I'm going to read it to you.
Because that's part of my revision is listening. And just like playing music or singing a song. You can tell when the note isn't right. When the word isn't right, when the cadence, when the meat or the rhyme scheme, the enjambment is off. It's like I hit the wrong key. So then I go back and I, yeah I revise.
Melinda: Revise. Yeah. And, and you know, in one of the podcast episodes I was listening to that you had done, you were talking about, you know, real writers are the ones that revise.
Amanda: Yes!
Melinda: And that is so important. Right. You know, I think there's a myth that we just create something and it's perfect the first time. And yet, in truth, we go through many, many, many revisions.
Amanda: Absolutely. Because that, that first impulse. Right. That's the urgency. The, of the work, the, beyond you, you're a vessel and it's got to come out. But then it's your responsibility if you're going to practice your craft to know your craft. And that means you then sit with it, you come back to it.
Is this the right word? Is there something stronger? Is it conveying what it's meant to? Because then when you release it, right, what I'm hopeful for always is that I'm making that bridge and connection. So if I have to do all of my work and even if I do, you know, it’s the best, I feel this is the greatest thing I've created to date and I'm ready to put it out there…
I can only ever do 50% of the work, right? It's not complete until you receive it and then you read it. And if I've done my work, then I've given you what you need to be able to meet me halfway and complete that arc.
Melinda: Yes. Yes. It's such a two-way process and, you know, the audience or the reader is not just a passive recipient. Right? It goes both ways. Yeah.
Amanda: But yes, everyone, you know, you're taught to write. Writers revise.
Melinda: Yes, yes. So speaking of which, I'm curious to hear a little bit more about your own writing process. And I know that's kind of unique to every person, you know. Do you have, like, a daily discipline or what does your writing life look like?
Amanda: My writing life is this life. You know, I think one of the greatest things we can do to nurture our creative work, whatever your, your practice is, is to live a full and amazing life. And the every day is amazing. I find joy and awe in the smallest, most quiet moments and places. And once you're in tune to that, I also think as, as artists, and as a poet, my job is to be observant so that that's why we see things a little differently, because that's already inherent in us.
But also we've trained ourselves to pay attention. Right? So my process is not a daily activation. I don't have a time. A lot of writers do, and they encourage you to do so… treat it like a job. It is a job. Sit down and write for these hours. If that works for you, brava. I'm so happy for you.
It doesn't work for me. I've always., you know, I had my family very young, and so I've been a mom my whole adult life. Truly. working and taking care of responsibilities and building a literary career. I know a lot of your listeners and viewers will probably relate to that. So where's the time?
Melinda: How do you find the time?
Amanda: Yeah. So for me, it's being observant and catching those moments and nuggets that the muse leaves for me. So it might be one line or a word or something I saw that stays with me. I'll try to jot it down, send myself a note on, an email or something, just so that that morsel is there and then I can come back to it.
And I am dutiful to my time in that I will plan breaks. So it might not be for a long stretches of time, but then I'll say, okay, here's four days where I don't have meetings and I don't have, you know, things on my calendar or I'm off, you know, this time. Then writing, I'll go back and pull all of those things together.
Melinda: Yeah. Well, that's a beautiful segue, because one of the things that you do with Torch Literary Arts is to offer an annual writer's retreat, which specifically gives writers time and space to come and be, just to be, right, and to write. So tell us a little bit more about that.
Amanda: Oh my gosh, the retreat is such a special place.
Melinda: It sounds like it.
Amanda: We just had our second annual retreat this past July. We launched last year in 2023, and it is an intentional space to be exactly that, a retreat. Sometimes spaces are called a retreat, and it's actually a working workshop, right? We know, we already know that you are incredibly talented, and we want to give you something that people in general don't often get, but especially black women don't get, is time to rest.
And focus on yourself and listen to yourself and, you know, rejuvenate. Dream. You can't have space to think creatively if it's constantly being bombarded, you're constantly bombarded with the responsibilities of everyday life and caring for others and etc. So for seven days we had eight fellows come and have a week, a week, and we are partners with the beautiful Carlton House hotel. They, support the retreat as a, property partner.
Melinda: Wonderful.
Amanda: And it's a beautiful luxury space. We want you to have softness. We want you to come in, and feel like, wait a minute. No, this is plush. This is nice. Yes, yes. Absolutely. And, you deserve that. Everyone deserves that. And so I wish we could make it available to more, but to keep the space, manageable and meaningful, we only accept eight fellows now.
And that's across, the genres that we publish in our online magazine. So two poets, two novelists, two folks writing in fiction, two I would say memoirs, but creative nonfiction. So it could be a collection of essays, you know, but, nonfiction. And then two working in script. So plays or screenplays, we have represented there as well.
And now the week is actually structured, but with plenty of time that is on your own. So we have during the week, opening and closing sessions with a trained counselor. Because we know being in a space, it's, it's so outside of our normal, daily operation.
And a lot of us don't have, I'm speaking specifically of black women writers, do not have opportunities to be in a space with other writers who are also black women, who are doing the work that we're doing. So it can be really emotional.
Melinda: Of course.
Amanda: So we have a trained counselor who opens the week with them and closes the week with them. We have industry talks with professionals. So we have folks who are working in literature, in major media. This past, retreat, we had Maya Perez, who's a professor at UT, but also a working screenwriter, working on a major television shows. And, we had Becca Oliver, who is the Executive Director of the Writers League of Texas.
Melinda: Yes. How wonderful.
Amanda: And she also is a former agent and worked major publishing houses. So she talked a bit about, getting management and representation and publishing, so. But they're fireside chat style. You know, it's just the nine of them in a room talking like you would like we are now, you know, just sharing information. And then there's a public reading so that our entire community can come out and hear these works in progress.
That's the other thing. They're all working on something and that's new. That has not been published or produced. And so we get to hear the first snippets of it, in Austin, at the public reading.
Melinda: That’s exciting. Yeah.
Amanda: Yeah. Imagine that. Like think of the great writers of our time. And there are people who have those stories. I remember hearing Toni Morrison read an excerpt from Beloved before it was published.
Melinda: Right, right.
Amanda: It's like these women are at that caliber of writing, and I can't wait for the world to discover them and support them.
Melinda: That is so exciting. Yeah. So and in addition to the retreat, you do publish online in your online literary journal. Many, you know, there's more opportunities, say, for publication. So, would you share with us some of the, some of your recent projects?
Amanda: Yes. So Torch Magazine is available online at torchliteraryarts.org. We publish digital work for free, for everyone to read, but we pay everyone too. That is a grounding principle. At Torch Literary Arts is, your labor, artistic labor is valuable. Right? And you should be compensated for it. So even, even, the fellows who attend the retreat get a $1,000 stipend to attend, and there's no other cost to them t,o to be there.
So, the magazine, we pay $150 per piece. And we accept submissions from black women writers around the world. And we've published folks from, of course, across the country, but also in Jamaica, Nigeria, Germany, Tanzania. And we are continually getting submissions. Canada.
Melinda: That's amazing.
Amanda: We're putting incredible work out there. But this year we started with a very special feature, Sapphire. If you don't know Sapphire, I'm sure you're familiar with the movie Precious, based on her book Push. And that was just such an honor that she allowed us to feature her.
She shared brand new original fiction as well as poetry. She talked about her, her visual art and doll making practice in an interview. Like, what rich, you know, materials for us to share in the present, but then also archive for the future.
Melinda: Yes. Yes, definitely. And you've built up this amazing archive of black women writers and obviously you're getting global attention, which is amazing. So I want to make sure that we have time to hear a couple poems.
Amanda: Oh, sure.
Melinda: Yeah, Do you have?
Amanda: Yeah. Let me get my…
Melinda: Yes. Of course.
Amanda: I write short poems. So if it feels like, oh, that was really short, it's because it was. [Laughter]. Don’t, I'm not pausing. It's not a dramatic pause. You know, and I'm done. But Lucille Clifton, incredible Lucille Clifton, one of the greatest poets of our time, she, rest in power. She, was at Cave Canem at the retreat one year and talking about her practice, and someone asked about her poems being short, because they are typically, you know, one stanza, or you know, not very long. And, her, her response was, “I write short poems.”
Melinda: Yeah, I love short poems. Yeah.
Amanda: And that was it. That was like….
Melinda: End of story.
Amanda: It gave me so much power and permission hearing her say that because I had previously received feedback, you know, that there was more for this poem. You know, and keep pushing it.
But when you, by practicing your art, you learn your voice. And that's when you're able to then discern between what is impactful or, you know, meaningful for your revision process and what is someone else's. You work, you know.
Melinda: That’s right. Everyone's got an opinion.
Amanda: Yeah. And they also have their style and their preferences, right.. And so after she said that, I realized the person who had given me, who I greatly respect and admire their work as well, who had given me that feedback, they typically write longer poems.
Melinda: Sure.
Amanda: So of course, they were looking for more. Because they write two and three page long poems typically, where mine are more like Lucille’s.
Melinda: And when you really distill it down to its essence, it it's powerful.
Amanda: Yeah. That's why I look at my poetry as having, you know, a small economy of words and so they have to, each one has to matter. Not that long poems don't do that. But for me that is, it's very urgent, that we try to get it right in as tight a space as possible.
So this first poem is called Bogeyman:
I keep running from the bogeyman on my shelf
who did bad things and wrote great poems. I try not to feel
them become erect with the word great.
I close my eyes and thumb past the award seals
that silence women I love. What a lie to be alive!
To come so close to greatness, so close it knows
your name, and survive.
Melinda: Beautiful. And it's so funny because that was one of the ones I had written down that I was going to ask you about, and hearing you read it, I got a different, sense of meaning than from just reading it.
So that's fascinating. Back to this sort of oratory nature of poetry. And so I'm curious, you know, with you getting all this recognition with the fellowship, with the poet laureate, is that complicated for you?
Amanda: How so?
Melinda: In the sense of the poem, you know, that like by, “what a lie to be alive,” you know, in this…
Amanda: Oh, so for me, you know, I also say much in the style of Sharon Olds, she talks about being the ‘I’ in her work. I am the ‘I’ am my work. So I write about that which is closest to me, that moves, it inspires and pulls me to the page. Right. So it is all very personal.
Melinda: Yeah.
Amanda: So for me, you know, I don't feel there's any complication between what I'm writing and what I'm doing in the world.
This is that one precious life, right? This is that one amazing life that I get to share and live. And I feel I'm doing my self service by living as honestly and truthfully as I can. And so that poem was from me thinking about the women and people, not just women, but people in my life who have been harmed by some very powerful people.
It's not polite dinner conversation. Right? But my poems are not concerned with that.
Melinda: Right. Yes. Beautiful. And I think you, you know, I see you doing all this work through your own poetry, through your efforts with Torch and the fellowship to bring forward these voices that have traditionally been silenced.
Amanda: Silenced. Yes, absolutely. So in a small way, through the poem to say, I see you and I think of you, I have not forgotten you. And I love you.
Melinda: Yes, yes. Beautiful. Thank you so much. Do you have another you'd like to share? Great.
Amanda: Let's see. When My Daughter Wasn't Assaulted:
She shook with fear, or was it guilt,
at the officers unraised hand and smile.
How she leaned away, slowly, when he called
a tow truck instead of back-up.
How her tears fled when he showed mercy
over rage for the couple on the side of the highway.
flat tire wasted against asphalt. She couldn't help
but look at her white boyfriend pacing
along the strip of road and wonder, what if
this was a different part of Texas?
What if this hero was a different shade of power?
Would she be so lucky, or was it luck
if the absence of a known pain
is just a heavy hand in repose?
Melinda: Yeah, that's another one that I had written down to ask you about. So thank you so much for sharing it. And I think it speaks to the experience of so many, right, who live in fear of that highway stop.
Amanda: Yeah, I wrote that poem. not too long after Sandra Bland… I believe she was she was murdered. There was something more that happened. She should not have been where she was. And she was definitely abused and assaulted in this state, which breaks my heart and has made many people, especially black women in this state and those looking at this state fearful.
Melinda: Yes.
Amanda: So when my daughter, this comes from a very real experience, my daughter, was on the side of the highway with her then boyfriend, and she called me hysterical.
And I don't use that word lightly. She truly was hysterical. She was inconsolable. She, and as a mother, you know, I still am feeling myself just go into, to tight panic response mode, thinking of my daughter in that moment when she was crying and I couldn't make out anything that she was saying, and I was just trying to calm her down and get her to calm, you know, so that she could speak to me.
And when she did, she finally just said, “Mom, you know, we have flat tire. We on the side of the road. And the cops came.” And I said, “Well, what happened?” And she said, “Nothing, but it could have.” And I knew in that moment my, what she called me for was validation. To say you're not crazy. I know why you feel this way, and it's understandable why you feel this way. Because you see what happens, has happened, and is continuing to happen with police brutality, violence and murders happening today.
Melinda: Continually.
Amanda: Mmm. So again, my duty, if I was, if I was in a different field. Right. If I was a lawyer, my community activism would look differently, if I was a doctor.
But I'm a poet, so I do feel it's my responsibility then to in the poem say I heard you, dear daughter. And I see you.
Melinda: It is a beautiful testament. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you so much. So, I think we're getting sort of to the, toward the end of our time, we have a little more time.
I guess, one of the other things I wanted to ask you is, you know, how are, what does it mean to you to be the poet laureate of Texas? I know when we were originally talking, you said, well, there's not exactly a defined role, but I see you really embracing it and making it your own, so.
Amanda: Well, it's a, it's a huge honor. It is the Texas Commission on the Arts and the wonderful people there, they administer the program. But it, it, they then through committee make recommendations and then the legislature and there's a House committee that actually signs off a resolution for state artists.
Melinda: Amazing.
Amanda: So, you know, I know that there are careful hands, hearts and minds who are doing the work to make this position and the other state artists possible, just even that recognition.
So I am grateful for that. It's not lost on me that I'm also the first black woman to hold the position of Texas Poet Laureate. And so in that, I feel a great responsibility for other black women in this state and outside of this state. And if you see me and as Texas Poet Laureate, then you can see yourself as Texas Poet Laureate.
Melinda: Yes.
Amanda: Or whatever your dream is. Say it out loud. Don't just dream it. Say it out loud. Practice your craft, do your work. and show up when your blessings show up for you. Right? But then in practice, doing the work to amplify poetry, support other poets in this state. There are so many incredible poets and artists in Texas.
Melinda: Yes.
Amanda: And I just want to do more to bring us closer together. This is a big state.
Melinda: Yes it is! [Laughter].
Amanda: But through the work, through the word and through my project, we can definitely do so much more together. And I mean, in my work, you know, a lot of the writing even reflects, if it reflects the times, then there's some heavy subject matter, too.
Melinda: That's right.
Amanda: But we, we also need joy. And joy and praise and gratitude is in abundance. Just as, just as much. It always has been. It's always there. So through the Praise Song for the People project, that's the goal is I want to celebrate us, give each other our flowers. People will ask me sometimes, you know, like, how can you live in Texas? People have asked me that.
Melinda: Understandable.
Amanda: And, but I'm also like, well, then how do you live on Earth? Because there are a lot of tragedies happening around the world right now in other states and other places. It's the people. It's the care. I saw, I can't remember what show it was on, but they were talking about the first signs of civilization and like how they knew this was, an advanced community of people.
And they said when they saw that the bone, a femur in a skeleton had been mended.
Melinda: Yes.
Amanda: Because in, you know, nature, when animals break a leg, it means deat. You're, there's not another animal there, you know, who is taking care of you and nurturing you and feeding you when you can't move around for yourself.
The bone has not been reset, etc. so when they found this femur, I can't remember where, but saying that that meant that someone else helped you or, you know, you repair. But there was a community that was around you, nurturing you, healing you, back to health, right? That exists today in many, many ways. Those moments of healing, those moments of seeing, those moments of being present with care and kindness happen over and over and over again.
And the communities that we're in where we feel that. That's why it's a wonderful place to live here in Texas. That's why it's a great place to live anywhere. It's because of the people.
Melinda: Yes. And when we can find and connect with our communities. How powerful that is. So speaking of, you know, all all of these wonderful efforts, I know you have some events coming up, one with the other poet laureates around the state. Tell us a little bit more about what's coming up.
Amanda: Yes. Well, here locally in Austin, shout out to KB Brookins, an incredible poet, memoirist, artist. KB has worked tirelessly to get Austin its first poet laureate program.
Melinda: Yay!
Amanda: Yay! So we're super excited about that. That now, like Houston, Dallas and San Antonio, Austin will have a city poet, adult poet laureate, and so on September 7th, that event will be happening here at the Central Branch Public Library.
I'm honored to be reading as part of that event. And then there will be a lot of events with Torch this fall. Do check out again, torchliteraryarts.org for our calendar, we’ll be announcing the fall season in a few short weeks. But we have so many incredible events, readings with local and statewide authors. We have a new program that we're launching called Writing Across the Diaspora in partnership with Texas State University, where we're bringing in Irish poets from Dublin to black women from Dublin, Nithy Kasa and Felispeaks, it's also with support from Culture Ireland and the Consulate General of Office of Ireland here in Austin.
Melinda: Wonderful.
Amanda: So yeah, really making those opportunities to, to take down any divides. It's like, no, I see you all the way across the ocean doing incredible work in literature. Please come and share that with our local community here in Central Texas.
Melinda: Yeah.
Amanda; And then we have so much more workshops. We have online communities. We have the salon, which is our monthly open mic at Anton's is next week, on the 20th.
So I don't know when this will air, but putting everything out there.
Melinda: Yeah. Is that an ongoing what, a monthly?
Amanda: Once a month.
Melinda: Okay. So people can catch it in a future month for sure.
Amanda: Absolutely.
Melinda: Yeah that's great. Okay. So Torch Literary Arts and your website.
Amanda: Yes. And then for the project, you can visit praisesongforthepeople.com. You can learn more about me and my writing on my website amandajohnston.com.
Melinda: Okay. Beautiful. And I like to end each episode with what I call sort of a Creativity Pro-Tip. So, you know, for people that are wanting to get out there and sort of exercise their creativity, is there like a tip or a piece of advice that you might give to people just starting out or just wanting to re-energize their creativity?
Amanda: Show up in your artistic community.
Melinda: Yes.
Amanda: So if you if you are wanting to write poetry, if you're wanting to be a writer and you haven't even started yet, I would say go to a reading.
Melinda: Yes.
Amanda: Go to a reading.
Melinda: Find your people.
Amanda: Find your people. Most of, and I mean this, most of the opportunities that I've had to publish, to share my work at a reading or do anything else like that. Learning about grants and resources has come from my literary community, so my friends who are other writers and those who, you know, run literary orgs or produce creative writing workshops and events, they share information. So that is the number one tip I tell anyone, whatever your practice is, you want to be a writer, show up to readings.
Be around other writers. You, you're a visual artist. Go to gallery showings. Go to openings, support the small local, community that is right there with you, you know, making in real time. You're a singer, go to shows, show up to the open mics, do everything you can to build that community, and then the opportunities that you're hoping for will come.
Melinda: Absolutely. That is such a great reminder. Thank you so much, Amanda, for being with us today.
Amanda: Thank you so much for having me.
Melinda: Find and connect with us on YouTube and social media under Syncreate, and we're on Patreon as well. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and leave us a review. We're recording today at Record ATX Studios in Austin, and the show is produced in collaboration with Mike Osborne at 14th Street Studios. Thanks so much for being with us, and see you next time.
