Andrea Gibson (born August 13, 1975) is an American poet and activist from
Calais, Maine, who has lived in
Boulder, Colorado since 1999.[1] Gibson's poetry focuses on
gender norms, politics, social reform, and
LGBTQ topics.[2]
Personal life
Gibson grew up in
Calais, Maine.[3] They have one sister, Laura, who is mentioned in a poem "The Moon Is a Kite".[4] Growing up in a Baptist home and attending local schools, they later attended
Saint Joseph's College of Maine.[5][6]
Moving with a girlfriend, Gibson lived for a time in New Orleans, and later the two moved in 1999 to
Boulder, Colorado, where they settled.[7] They went to their first open-mic in Denver, where Gibson was inspired to become a
spoken word artist.[8]
Gibson uses
gender-neutral pronouns, specifically they/them/theirs.[9] Many of their poems are about gender identity, such as "Swing Set" and "Andrew".[10] Gibson has said, regarding gender, "I don't necessarily identify within a gender binary. I've never in my life really felt like a woman and I've certainly never felt like a man. I look at gender on a spectrum and I feel somewhere on that spectrum that's not landing on either side of that."[11] Regarding appellation, Gibson has expressed affinity for a variety of names, stating "The names my loved ones call me that I love being called: Andrea. Andrew. Andy. Anderson. Dre. Gibby. Gib. Gibbs. Gibba. Sam. Faye. Pangee."[1]
Gibson has stated they have
Chronic Lyme Disease (CLD), an unrecognized[12] medical diagnosis. They have spoken openly about their experiences with CLD, physical suffering, and difficulty accessing care and treatment.[13] They have worked towards promoting CLD beliefs.[14]
They have undergone chemotherapy for ovarian cancer.[15] They announced a recurrence on 05/31/2023 during We Can Do Hard Things podcast with Glennon Doyle. [16]
In 2008, Gibson published their first book, Pole Dancing To Gospel Hymns.[20] This was followed by The Madness Vase and Pansy, all published by
Write Bloody Publishing.[21][22] Gibson has also written and published Take Me With You, a book of quotes and phrases. In 2018, they published Lord of the Butterflies.[23]
The album Yellowbird incorporates music with spoken word. Confronting fear was a theme in poems of the following album, Flower Boy. Gibson also released Truce in 2013, followed by Hey Galaxy in 2018.[23]
In addition to using poetry to provide social and political commentary on gender and LGBTQ issues, Gibson is involved with many activist groups, and also performs at
Take Back the Night events.[27] For twenty years, Gibson performed with Vox Feminista, a "performance tribe of radical feminists bent on social change through cultural revolution."[11]
In 2013, alongside Kelsey Gibb, Gibson launched the website and support system, Stay Here With Me. The tumblr account for Stay Here With Me presents it as "an interactive, safe space offering collective support while encouraging individual healing to keep those who visit alive today, and wanting to stay alive until tomorrow."[28]
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abGibson, Andrea. "Instagram Post - @andrew_gibby". www.instagram.com. p. Comment section, reply to user @shewrotesomepoems | Comment section, reply to user @shewrotesomepoems.
Archived from the original on 2021-12-25. Retrieved 2021-06-23.
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abOctober 21, Robert T. Muller /; Arts, 2015 / Leave a comment /; Culture; Words (2015-10-21).
"The Madness Vase / The Nutritionist". The Trauma & Mental Health Report. Retrieved 2023-02-20.{{
cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (
link)