Andrea Gibson, the American poet, performer and activist best known for the spoken-word collections Lord of the Butterflies and You Better Be Lightning, died on July 14, 2025.
Gibson was born on August 13, 1975, in Calais, Maine, and used they/them pronouns. They came out at age 20 while studying creative writing at Saint Joseph’s College of Maine, identified as genderqueer, and moved to Colorado in the late 1990s. In 2008 Gibson won the first Women of the World Poetry Slam, and they were also a four-time Denver Grand Slam champion, a two-time winner of the Independent Publisher Book Award, and a three-time Goodreads Choice Awards finalist. Alongside their poetry books, Gibson released seven spoken-word albums.
Pole Dancing to Gospel Hymns (2008) is Gibson’s first book, with poems on a soldier’s lingering wounds, schoolchildren’s questions about hate, and a lover’s longing.
The Madness Vase (2011) is the second collection, turning to family, war, spirituality, gender, grief and hope.
We Will Be Shelter: Poems for Survival (2014) is an anthology of social justice poems that Gibson edited.
Pansy (2015) gathers poems on love, gender, politics, sexuality and forgiveness.
Take Me With You (2018) is a small illustrated book, with line drawings by Sarah J. Coleman, in three sections titled On Love, On the World and On Becoming.
Lord of the Butterflies (2018) is a collection of poems on gender, romance, loss and family.
How Poetry Can Change Your Heart (2019), written with the poet Megan Falley, is a guide for readers and aspiring poets on finding their way into poetry.
You Better Be Lightning (2021) is a queer, political and feminist collection that moves from the intimate to the global, with poems on love, illness and climate change.
In September 2023 Colorado Governor Jared Polis appointed Gibson the state’s poet laureate, a post they held until their death. Gibson and Falley were the main subjects of the documentary Come See Me in the Good Light, directed by Ryan White, which follows their relationship as Gibson faced terminal cancer and won the Festival Favorite Award at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival.
Complete Bibliography
Poetry: Pole Dancing to Gospel Hymns (2008), The Madness Vase (2011), Pansy (2015), Take Me With You (2018), Lord of the Butterflies (2018), You Better Be Lightning (2021)
Nonfiction: How Poetry Can Change Your Heart (2019, with Megan Falley)
Edited: We Will Be Shelter: Poems for Survival (2014)
Andrea Gibson died of ovarian cancer on July 14, 2025, at home in Colorado, after a four-year illness. They were 49. Gibson is survived by their wife, the poet Megan Falley, their parents and a sister.