Andrea Gibson, the Colorado poet laureate who helped introduce a new generation to slam poetry with their electrifying performances, has died at 49, the New York Times reports.
Gibson was born and raised in Calais, Maine, and educated at Saint Joseph's College of Maine, where they played basketball. They worked as a teacher before dedicating their career to poetry.
Gibson made their publishing debut in 2008 with the collection Pole Dancing to Gospel Hymns, which featured poems centered on politics, love, and trauma. Six more collections would follow, including The Madness Vase, Take Me With You, and, most recently, You Better Be Lightning. They also released seven albums, including When the Bough Breaks, Yellowbird, and Hey Galaxy.
Gibson was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2021, which they addressed in their popular and emotional live performances. In a piece on their Substack newsletter published in 2023, “Love Letter From the Afterlife,” Gibson wrote, “My love, I was so wrong. Dying is the opposite of leaving. When I left my body, I did not go away. That portal of light was not a portal to elsewhere, but a portal to here. I am more here than I ever was before. I am more with you than I ever could have imagined.”
Gibson’s Instagram account posted the news of their death, with a quote from them: “Whenever I leave this world, whether it’s sixty years from now, I wouldn’t want anyone to say I lost some battle. I’ll be a winner that day.”
“Andrea Gibson was a winner today,” the post read.
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
