Meet Amanda Johnston

We were lucky to catch up with Amanda Johnston recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Amanda, thank you so much for opening up with us about some important, but sometimes personal topics. One that really matters to us is overcoming Imposter Syndrome because we’ve seen how so many people are held back in life because of this and so we’d really appreciate hearing about how you overcame Imposter Syndrome.

How did you overcome imposter syndrome?

By doing the work. It’s easy to feel like you’re not good enough or producing enough in a world with expectations of instant gratification and viral fame. I used to confuse writing with publication and publication with profitability. I’m grateful for the wise words of my therapist who reminded me that “you can’t become what you already are” and that I am already a poet, writer, artist, etc. because I am already living my life writing poems and creating art. I’m also grateful for my friend and mentor, the writer and anthropologist, Pem Davidson Buck who told me that “no one can take away what you’ve done.” Her words remind me to look at my accomplishments when I feel I can’t do something. I can and I will again.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

I am a writer, visual artist, the 2024 Texas Poet Laureate, and the founder/executive director of Torch Literary Arts. At the center of my creative and professional work is community. Art connects us and invites others in to witness and inspire conversations.

As Texas Poet Laureate, my signature statewide project, Praisesong for the People, commissions 70 poets to write a praise poem celebrating a Texan who has positively impacted their lives and community. It’s moving to read poems that uplift teachers, bus drivers, strangers, and loved ones who make a difference in our diverse and intersecting Texas communities. Learn more at PraisesongForThePeople.com

As founder/executive director of Torch Literary Arts, I work with an incredible team to create advancement opportunities for Black women writers across the diaspora. Torch Literary Arts publishes Torch Magazine online with monthly and Friday features from around the globe. Our programs include creative and professional workshops, an annual writing retreat, the Wildfire Reading Series that celebrates notable authors from across the country, Writers Across the Diaspora hosts international writers in Central Texas for a week of readings, lectures, and workshops, and special events in partnership with other organizations like the Texas Book Festival and the George Washington Carver Museum. Learn more at TorchLiteraryArts.org

My visual art and poetry explore themes of identity and social justice. Exhibitions have been held at the Prizer Arts & Letters Gallery and the Museum of Human Achievement. Poems and images can be found on my website AmandaJohnston.com

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

You have to be a doer. You have to get up and start creating what you want to exist in the world. You also have to be resourceful. Start with what you have. Do you want to be a writer? Put pen to page or start typing on your laptop. Write bad first drafts. You’ll write more, learn more about your voice, and have work that can be edited and improved, but you start with words on the page.

Do you want to be a visual artist? Make art. Start painting, drawing, sculpting, with whatever materials you have. Again, you will learn in the making what you want to lean into and what the work wants to become.

In all of this, you must practice and study your craft. Read, go to galleries, support other writers and artists, take a workshop, read books on craft, and live a life full of art and experiences. This will inspire you to create more and give you the confidence to walk boldly in your artistic identity.

What do you do when you feel overwhelmed? Any advice or strategies?

I take a breath and write down only the tasks that must be done that day—only what must be done right then. I focus on completing those tasks, and then I rest. I do something that fills me with joy. I phone a friend or loved one. I go outside and look at the sky. This helps me remember that the world is bigger than my to-do list and that everything will happen in perfect divine timing.

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Image Credits

Headshot by Cindy Elizabeth

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