Andrea Gibson program

Friday

JAN 26

7:30 pm

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Andrea Gibson Award-winning American poet and activist

This project is supported, in part, by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts. To find out more about how NEA grants impact individuals and communities, visit www.arts.gov.

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JAN 26 | Andrea Gibson

Audience members will enjoy onstage seating for this event.

There will be no intermission for this performance.

This performance contains mature content.

Andrea Gibson Andrea Gibson is not gentle with truths, and the spoken word performed in Gibson’s show is likely to evoke laughter, anticipation, sadness, anger, love, hope and bravery. If this doesn’t sound like a typical “poetry show” to you, then chances are you’ve never seen Andrea Gibson perform live.

Gibson’s career began in 1999 with a break-up poem at an open mic night in Boulder, Colorado. Gibson then leaped into the forefront of spoken-word poetry on the national scene in 2008, winning the first ever Women of the World Poetry Slam. And now, Andrea Gibson is the author of three collections of poetry and has released seven full-length albums.

The latest album, HEY GALAXY, evolved in the midst of another project as a result of the current political turmoil in the United States. Gibson was working on an album entirely about love, accompanied by an orchestra, but after the 2016 presidential election, felt moved to put forth a more social justice-oriented project. “There’s a quote that says, ‘Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable.’ I wanted to do that. I wanted to make something political and human and gutsy in its revolt. Something beautiful in its sweetness and rage and vulnerability. Something loud and tender at the same time.” HEY GALAXY does just that.

Gibson’s poems awaken us with their urgency, honesty and lyrical meld of grit and beauty. In “Angels of the Get Through,” Gibson makes this heart-wrenching plead to a friend: “You keep worrying you’re taking up too much space. I wish you’d let yourself be the Milky Way.” Whether it’s de-stigmatizing mental illness, encouraging people to stay alive, bringing visibility to queer relationships or inspiring activism that dismantles patriarchy, capitalism and white supremacy, Gibson’s art feels brave. And the vulnerability of Andrea’s honesty makes the audience feel welcome, and brings them back to Andrea Gibson shows time and time again.