The internationally renowned poet and activist, Andrea Gibson, will be performing at Smith College tonight. Gibson is the author of numerous poetical works, including five CDs of spoken word poetry and six books of printed poems. I got the opportunity to ask her a few questions about her writing and the creative process.
Mount Holyoke News: How long have you been writing?
Andrea Gibson: I have been writing since I was very young. I studied creative writing in college, but didn?t discover spoken word until a couple of years after that when I moved to Colorado. Denver has an amazing poetry scene and I was immediately inspired to get involved.
MHN: What?s your primary motivation behind writing and performing?
AG: I write because I would feel like a hollow shell of myself if I didn?t. It is the time in my life when everything makes the most sense, the time when I feel most connected to the pulse of why we?re here. I write about the topics I write about because they are the ones ringing loudest in my chest. And I perform because I?m terrified to perform, and because silence is an unbearably heavy thing to carry.
MHN: How has your queer identity influenced your work?
AG: If I were not queer I?m not sure I?d even be writing. The year I came out was the year I started questioning every ?truth? I?d ever been taught.
MHN: Your poems come across as deeply personal?to what extent do you draw inspiration from your personal life?
AG: I?d say I write almost every poem I write from the inside out. To not write from an intimate place has always felt bad to me. My favorite artists are artists who are consistently willing to be vulnerable.
MHN: In poems such as Andrew and Jewelry Store, you talk about your experience of gender. How has this affected your personal life and work?
AG: In every way. Gender is everywhere. Gender is the one poem I am never not speaking.
MHN: Which artists? works do you admire most or feel inspired to emulate?
AG: Too many to even begin to name.
MHN: It?s well known that you have stage freight. How do you deal with this and how do you feel it affects your performance?
AG: I deal with it by not trying to hide it?. by knowing that if I walk on stage terrified I can say into the mic, ?Hey everyone, I?m absolutely terrified.? That nervous energy almost always lands me in a more honest place, propels me into a more transparent performance.
MHN: What?s the craziest fan experience you?ve ever had?
AG: I screamed ?I hate myself for loving you!? at Joan Jett. I drooled food on my shirt while talking to Ani Difranco. And I?m pretty sure I asked Amy Goodman to marry me.
Gibson will be performing at 8:30 p.m. in the Carroll Room in Smith?s Campus Center, the show is open to 5-College students and tickets are not necessary.
Related posts:
- Spoken truth:?celebrated poet Andrea Gibson performs at Smith College
- Pakistani Students for Change organize fundraiser featuring poet Andrea Gibson
- Mount Holyoke seniors featured in PoetryFest
- The Mount Holyoke News speaks to Cerri Banks, new Dean of the College
- The Mount Holyoke News speaks to Jodie Castanza, new ResLife director
Source: http://themhnews.org/2012/02/arts/andrea-gibson-speaks-to-mount-holyoke-before-smith-performance
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