Andrea Gibson Is Colorado’s New Poet Laureate

Colorado has a new poet laureate: Andrea Gibson, the Boulder-based queer activist, slam poet and author.

Gibson (they/them), whom Westword named one of Colorado’s Top Ten Must-Read Writers back in 2019, is an award-winning performer and poet who got started at open-mic nights back in 1999. The non-binary creative has built a career on speaking out about gender norms, social issues, culture wars and politics.

“Andrea Gibson is an inspiring Colorado artist,” said Governor Jared Polis in a September 6 press release. “Andrea’s voice holds a fierce conviction in inspiring others to pursue art and take action toward solving social issues, and they personify our Colorado for All spirit. I know Andrea will be a strong advocate for the arts and art education as a way to bring us together, has a strong desire for unity and to bring people together through poetry.”

Polis went on to thank former poet laureate Bobby LeFebre for his four years of service to the state's arts community. LeFebre, who was Colorado’s youngest and first poet laureate of color, took part in more than 130 events since 2019.

“Being Colorado poet laureate was more than a title; it was a calling, a duty and a privilege,” says LeFebre. “The poet, when effective, is not merely a writer of words, but a cultural worker — a healer who uses the alchemy of language to mend the broken and bind the wounds of our collective spirit. We are more than literature; we are cultural translators, humble prophets, communal visionaries. We are stewards and servants of humanity and emotion, dreamers and realists inseparably entwined. We are truth-tellers who take responsibility for the visions that live within us and manifest, evoke and make tangible the love and dreams that reside in every heart.”

LeFebre joined the governor and Colorado Creative Industries (a division of the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade) in welcoming Gibson to their new role. “I admire Andrea not only for their extraordinary talent, but also for their unwavering dedication to building a more just world; one we have yet to see but long for," LeFebre says. "Their poetry and life’s work are a force that empowers us to confront the internal and external challenges of our time with empathy, courage and compassion.”

As poet laureate, Gibson will serve as an active advocate for poetry, literacy and literature by participating in readings and other events at schools, libraries, literary festivals and the State Capitol. Gibson will also provide the governor with an annual account of the impact and success of the Colorado poet laureate program and prepare a poem for the opening of the legislative session. The honorary position lasts for two years before reconsideration.
One of Gibson’s most memorable performances was back in 2019, when their poem “America, Reloading,” from the collection Lord of the Butterflies, was made into a video produced by director Sarah Megyesy. The video, which was released after the then-fresh mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, shows children drawing fear-inspired images as Gibson’s words ring over them. America celebrates “the independence of machine guns,” Gibson says in the piece, and is a place “where anybody can buy a cemetery at a sporting goods store.”

In a 2019 Westword interview, Gibson reflected on their goal for the video’s release. “It’s my hope that it will inspire direct action, conscious organizing, and more informed discussions between people with varying opinions about the most compassionate way forward,” they said. “It’s also important to me to simply keep this on people’s minds and hearts. To turn our eyes in the direction of what is true, no matter how painful that truth is to face.”

Four years on, Gibson now says their work might be a little more hopeful, especially after a journey through ovarian cancer and recovery. “An artist’s job is to redirect awe, astonishment, and wonder back into people, something we were born with but culture takes out of us as we grow older,” they said in the September 6 announcement. “I spent so much time writing about what was wrong with the world, now I write about what I dream the world can be.”

Andrea Gibson is the author of six full-length collections of poetry; Take Me With You, an illustrated collection of Gibson’s most beloved quotes; and the non-fiction book How Poetry Can Change Your Heart. To learn more about Colorado's poet laureate program, visit coloradohumanities.org.