HAUS FÜR POESIE

Andrea Gibson (born 1975 in Maine, died 2025 in Longmont, Colorado) was most recently Poet Laureate of the U.S. state of Colorado and shaped over two decades a poetry that combines political urgency with radical vulnerability. Gibson first became known through the slam and spoken-word scene but quickly developed an international readership. Among the most important publications are the poetry collections The Madness Vase (Write Bloody Publishing, 2011) and Pansy (Write Bloody Publishing, 2015), as well as Lord of the Butterflies (Button Poetry, 2018) and the most recent volume You Better Be Lightning (Button Poetry, 2021), for which Gibson received the Independent Publisher Book Award.

Gibson’s work addresses themes such as queerness, gender, violence, mental health, and care, and is characterized by an immediate, performative language that deliberately blurs the boundary between stage and audience.

The documentary Come See Me in the Good Light (dir. Ryan White, USA, 2025) follows Gibson and their partner Megan Falley after a cancer diagnosis. It combines readings, observations of daily life, and conversations, highlighting the connection between writing and lived experience. The film shows Gibson both in performance and in private settings, revealing how closely poetic practice and biography are intertwined. The approach remains factual and observant, without dramatizing the situation.