Andrea Gibson

Pole Dancing to Gospel Hymns

admin — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 23:32:00 +0000

As a newer reader of and listener to poetry, I often find it overly dramatic or flowery for my tastes. When I started reading Andrea Gibson’s collection, Pole Dancing To Gospel Hymns, I was not drawn to her lyrical love poems, which I read too cynically, but as I read on, I was drawn in by her humor, self-reflection, and earnest political analysis. This collection of twenty-six poems vary from love poems to political laments—all written with obvious skill for word choice, style, and performability (although I cannot attest to her performance, she recently won the first ever Women of the World Poetry Slam in March 2008).

The poem “See Through” was one of my favorites. Written about her thoughts in trying to explain whiteness to a five year old, the poem is incredibly self-reflective, and while explicit in naming the histories of white privilege and supremacy in this country, does not fall into the common activist trap of white guilt, but, rather, expresses the rage and motions towards action: “Don’t you think its time something changed?” Throughout the book she spaces a few very short, humorous poems that add wit, brevity, and humor to a collection that is, on the whole, heavy and longer.

Overall, the collection reads with cohesion and variety - although, after the first few, I grew tired of the love poems written about her girlfriends. Pole Dancing To Gospel Hymns is for readers who are looking for smart, enjoyable, political poetry on topics ranging from queerness, gender, love, war, whiteness, and United States Empire.

Written by: Katrina Forman, July 6th 2008

Swarm

admin — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 12:01:00 +0000

By Andrea Gibson

Faux Pas Productions

If you love poetry—scratch that—if you love powerfully articulate, passionate prose meant to stir up your inner emotions and inspire you to stand up and create change, then you’ll love the brilliance that queer poet/activist Andrea Gibson serves up aplenty in Swarm.

Primarily recorded in a bedroom, Swarm also contains a handful of live tracks that allow the listener to taste the raw energy of her live performance.

The self-released album came out in 2004, yet the poignant words, occasionally accompanied by a backdrop of acoustic guitar, cut into you like knives and remain just as relevant today—particularly today. Gibson takes it all on—patriarchy, ignorance (the angry, powerful “Wal-Mart”), gender norms (the comedic “Sidewalk Chalk”)—without a bat of the eye, and takes you on a rollercoaster ride of emotions in just one piece.

Check it out, if not just for the jaw-dropping live track, “Dive,” a brutally honest peek at life and what Gibson pens “the most honest poem I’ve ever spoken in my life.” She speaks passionately of the horrors of life—the stuff that doesn’t make sense, “doesn’t rhyme”—from patriarchy and hate to anti-gay violence. Another gem is “Blue Blanket,” a fierce portrait of patriarchy: “I am generations of daughters, sisters, mother/our bodies battlefields/war grounds/beneath the weapons of your brother’s hands.”

This album will not disappoint. It will change your life.

Written by: Amy Wooten, June 23rd 2007

Andrea Gibson

admin — Tue, 29 May 2007 23:16:00 +0000

By Andrea Gibson

Faux Pas Productions

Activist poet Andrea Gibson rations politics into five easy to swallow pills. Her self-titled five track DVD tackles the touchiest issues for queer activists today. From same sex union in “I do,” to rape in “Blue Blanket” and the hypocrisy of the yellow ribbon in her best performance of “For Eli,” Gibson is definitely on top of all the topics. But if watching this film didn’t release my anger towards the patriarchy – or even let me join in her chimed “I do” – it’s only because her writing feels redundant.

The personal is political, but the political does not come to feel personal with Gibson. Too often moments in her writing are outshined by gay pop culture allusions that bring to mind Ani Difranco songs or popular films from a few years back. In the piece “ I do,” she elaborates on a fifty year lesbian relationship that could, at the final hour, be unrecognized by the hospital; though the performance is not lacking, the allusion is quite strong and only reaffirms the tremendous influence gay culture has had on the way we choose to view these personal issues.

At her best in “Dive,” Gibson’s witty beginning plays on the double meaning of saying I love you: "I often repeat myself and the second time's a lie/I love you I love you/see what I mean/I don't ...and I do." But the poem loses this playfulness as she takes the irony of the statement with metaphors that go beyond the difference of subtlety between poetry and spoken word. "see life/doesn't rhyme/it’s bullets/and wind chimes."

Gibson’s wittiness and charisma on stage are her best assets, but her often obsolete approach to the topic is just cutting it short to “another angry dyke” at the mic.

Written by: Beatrice Smigasiewicz, May 29th 2007