Andrea Gibson born April 22, 1975 is an award-winning poet and activist. She lives in Colorado. Her poetry focuses on gender norms, politics, and today's struggles facing non-heterosexual people. Gibson disclosed that she chose to write what was in her bones and thus these subject matters are what came out. On top of using poetry to express what she feels and tackle real issues, she is involved with many group activists. She often performs at Take Back the Night Events, LGBT events, Pride events, Trans* events, Anti-war rallies, Peace rallies, organizations against the occupation of Palestine, groups focused on examining the wrongs of capitalism, patriarchy and white supremacy. She also works with a group called Vox Feminista whose model is to "comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable" on all these issues.
Gibson grew up in Calais, Maine. She is the daughter of Mark and Shirley Gibson, and has one sister, Laura, whom she mentions in her poem 'Titanic'. She attended Saint Joseph's College of Maine. Later, she moved to New Orleans with her girlfriend. In 1999, the two moved to Boulder, Colorado. She went to her first open-mic in Denver.[1] A four-time Denver Grand Slam Champion, Gibson finished fourth at the 2004 National Poetry Slam, and she finished third at both the 2006 and 2007 Individual World Poetry Slam.[2][3] In 2008, Gibson became the first poet ever to win the Women of the World Poetry Slam (WOWps) in Detroit.[4]
In 2011, Write Bloody Publishing published Andrea Gibson's 6th book, "The Madness Vase". In 2009, they published her first syndicated work, Pole Dancing To Gospel Hymns, She also has self-published four books: Trees that Grow in Cemeteries, Yellow Bird, What the Yarn Knows of Sweaters, and Pole Dancing to Gospel Hymns.
Discography: Flower Boy (2011) Yellowbird (2009) When the bough breaks (2006) Swarm (2004) Bullets and Windchimes (2003)
Yellowbird is her second most recent album incorporates music and song throughout the album. Andrea professes that she always writes to music and so it was natural to put music together for the album. This album was also her effort to write about what she was afraid to write about. This theme is continued through many of the poems in her most recent album, Flower Boy.