About

Zan Johns (aka Zaneta Varnado Johns): A truth-telling vessel of grace, light and love

Zan Johns believes that every word shared is an opportunity to love. She is an award-winning bestselling author and Pushcart Prize Nominee in Poetry. Her 2020 debut book, Poetic Forecast topped Amazon's Bestseller List at #1 in six categories, unleashing her passion of creative expression. Two collections followed, After the Rainbow (2022) and Pulitzer Prize-entered Encore (2023), along with What Matters Journal (2023), a tool for organizing, self-care, reflection and gratitude.

Zan is the Poet Laureate of Canada’s Women Speakers Association (WSA). She is a contributing author in WSA’s #1 international bestselling collaborative series Voices of the 21st Century (2021, 2022, 2023 & 2024). Her poems are featured as the Dedication page in these collaborative books. Zan co-edited Social Justice Inks (2022), Dear Heart (2023) and Cadence (2024) anthologies with publisher and poet Lisa Tomey-Zonneveld. She is an editor of Fine Lines Journal and administrator for the Passion of Poetry, an online platform for emerging and esteemed poets worldwide. Johns’ poems appear in over eighty anthologies and international literary publications.

Recognized as a Dress for Success Denver “Your Hour Her Power” 2024 Honoree and Side Hustle Honors 2024 awardee, Zan's writing offers hope as she stirs the reader’s consciousness about life and living.

A world class poet, Zan left her hometown of Hammond, Louisiana to attend the University of Colorado where she also spent her twenty-nine-year administrative career. She was the lead human resources officer when she retired in 2007 after being named one of the University of Colorado's Women Who Make a Difference. Colorado, USA is home.