Andrea Gibson, a Boulder-based queer activist, author and slam poet, has been named Colorado’s new Poet Laureate by Gov. Jared Polis.

Colorado’s Poet Laureate is essentially the state’s arts ambassador, serving as an active advocate for poetry, literacy and literature by participating in readings at schools, libraries, festivals and other events across the state. The Poet Laureate also prepares a poem for the annual opening of the state’s legislative session.

“Andrea’s voice holds a fierce conviction in inspiring others to pursue art and take action toward solving social issues,” Polis said, while making the announcement Wednesday at the Colorado Chautauqua in Boulder. “I know Andrea will be a strong advocate for the arts and arts education as a way to bring us together, and has a strong desire for unity and to bring people together through poetry.”

Gibson is from Calais, Maine, and has lived in Boulder, since 1999. Gibson, whose pronouns are they/them, is a four-time Denver Grand Slam Champion and focuses work around a range of topics, including LGBTQIA+ issues, spirituality, feminism, mental health, gun reform and the dismantling of what activists describe as oppressive systems.

“I believe my gender will be changing up until the moment I take my last breath,” Gibson told Them magazine.

“Andrea Gibson is an amazing poet who can make you weep with a heart-wrenching love poem and then swiftly inspire you to action with a powerful political poem,” wrote Seventeen magazine.

Gibson’s poetry explores themes of love, gender, politics, sexuality, family, and forgiveness with vivid imagery. People have praised Gibson’s work for what they say is its fierce willingness to delve into the exploration of what it means to heal and to be different. Gibson’s online merch includes T-shirts that say, “Crying is my Superpower” and “Feelings are not the enemy.”

“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,” said Gibson, who was diagnosed with ovarian cancer two years ago. “I spent so much time writing about what was wrong with the world. Now, I write about what I dream the world can be.”

Gibson, the author of six full-length poetry collections, is a two-time winner of the Independent Publishers Award, a three-time Goodreads Choice Awards Finalist and the winner of the first Women’s World Poetry Slam. In 2017, Penguin Books published “Take Me With You,” an illustrated collection of Gibson’s most beloved quotes. In 2019, Chronicle Books published Gibson’s first nonfiction book, “How Poetry Can Change Your Heart.”

The new Colorado Poet Laureate wants “to come up with new and inventive ways to help a larger population fall in love and appreciate poetry,” Gibson said. “I want everyone to have a poem that they can go to like you would with a song. Poetry can be the vehicle that allows us to know each other and expand humanity. That’s what I hope to help do with this role.”

Gibson succeeds Bobby LeFebre, who was the youngest Colorado Poet Laureate and first Poet Laureate of color. LeFebre served a four-year term; Gibson’s appointment is for two. The position comes with a $10,000 annually honorarium to cover travel and other expenses.

“Bobby’s tenure as Poet Laureate was a burst of creative energy,” Polis said. “When Bobby was appointed to this position, he embraced it fully. Over the past four years, he has represented our state and the arts better than we could have ever imagined.”

LeFebre has appeared at more than 130 events since 2019.

“From the sweeping landscapes of the Western Slope to the familiar streets of Denver and the quiet beauty of the San Luis Valley, I have had the opportunity to connect with people from all walks of life,” LeFebre said. “So many communities, homes, spaces of worship, libraries, cultural spaces, social actions and more have welcomed me with open arms, and I am profoundly grateful for the warm embrace of that collective spirit.”

The Poet Laureate position exists within the state’s arts-funding office, known as Colorado Creative Industries, which is itself a division of the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade.

“Andrea has an incredible ability to unite people through artistic expression,” said OEDIT Executive Director Eve Lieberman. “Andrea, who will play a powerful role in contributing to our efforts in making Colorado work for all.”

Andrea Gibson: An Excerpt

Here’s the opening stanza from Gibson’s poem, “What Sucks About the Afterlife,” fully published in the book, ‘You Better Be Lightning.”

“I wrote this piece in hopes of shifting our cultural inclination to beat the living daylights out of ourselves – and each other – for the mistakes we make,” Gibson said.

On Earth, everyone loved butterflies,

but I trusted the caterpillars more.

I trusted the ones who knew

they were not done growing.

On Earth, I was a work in progress,

was comforted in the knowing

that I had a million mistakes

still in me to learn from.