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Olivia Gatwood

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Olivia Gatwood
Born (1992-02-23) February 23, 1992 (age 32)[citation needed]
Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S.[citation needed]
OccupationPoet
NationalityAmerican
Website
www.oliviagatwood.com

Olivia Gatwood (born February 23, 1992[not verified in body]) is a poet, writer, activist, and an educator on topics that include sexual assault prevention and recovery. She is known for her poems such as "Manic Pixie Dream Girl", "Alternate Universe in Which I am Unfazed by the Men Who do Not Love Me", and "Backpedal".[not verified in body] Gatwood has toured internationally and has spoken at more than two hundred universities across the United States.[not verified in body]

Early life and education

Olivia Gatwood was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico on February 3, 1992,[citation needed] the daughter of Jill and Byron Gatwood.[citation needed] She has stated in interview that she began writing poetry "at about 11 or 12".[1]

Career

Gatwood is a poet, writer, activist, speaker, and educator on topics that include sexual assault prevention and recovery.[2]

Gatwood has performed her poems on various platforms, including Brave New Voice, Women of the World Poetry Slam, HBO, The Huffington Post, VH1, and BBC.[citation needed]

Her poems have also appeared in print in Muzzle Magazine, The Winter Tangerine Review, Poetry City USA, Tinderbox Poetry Journal, and the Missouri Review.[citation needed]

Gatwood and fellow poet Megan Falley created an interactive show called Speak Like a Girl, a traveling poetry show that focuses on gender issues, body image, growing up and other topics.[3]

Gatwood's March 2017 book-length debut work, New American Best Friend, received positive reviews.[citation needed]

Social activism

Gatwood has been an advocate for sexual education, human rights, and gender equality through various platforms.[citation needed] She has created numerous workshops accessible to anyone.[weasel words][citation needed] Her writing workshop[clarification needed] focuses on students of all ages and levels of experience, and gives students the chance to read works of poets around the world.[citation needed] Her performance workshops[clarification needed] are geared towards students interested in slam poetry, with an emphasis on incorporating the use of body, vocal range, and enunciation and projection techniques.[citation needed] Her community-building workshops[clarification needed] cover topics from consent, being an active bystander, gender equality, relationships, and sexual health.[citation needed]

Spoken word poetry

Gatwood frequently uses the activism platform of spoken word poetry,[2] "poetic expression as a word-based performance, often (though not exclusively) in free verse and at times confrontational and personal in nature".[4] Slam poetry is expanding across many cities in America because of its experiential and transformative nature.[editorializing][citation needed] Gatwood often uses spoken word poetry as a platform for her activism and has participated in shows and festivals like Brave New Voices, Women of the World Poetry Slam (WOWps), and the National Poetry Slam.[citation needed] Gatwood has competed in the WOWps for two years, and earned sixth place in 2012 out of 72 contestants.[citation needed] She has also competed in the National Poetry Slam two years in a row, with her team coming in second place in 2014.[citation needed]

Works

New American Best Friend

After numerous published poems, Gatwood began a novel,[when?] New American Best Friend, which would become her debut in that genre.[citation needed] In it, Gatwood wrote about her childhood, the transition from teenage years to young adulthood, her views on gender and sexuality, and the violence and joys in her life.[5] She has said that she wrote the book as "an effort to celebrate ones body",[This quote needs a citation] and included the short poems "Ode to my Bitch Face", "Like Us, and "The First Shave".[verification needed][citation needed]

In 2017, New American Best Friend was nominated for the Goodreads Choice Awards Best Poetry.[6] Otherwise, New American Best Friend met with mixed reviews.[citation needed] It has been praised for being a raw and unedited view into a teenage girl's life,[citation needed] and criticized for being too critical, too biased about common occurrences in society, and too based in feminism.[citation needed]

Life of the Party

Life of the Party is a poetry collection by Olivia Gatwood that is "deeply inspired by true crime and murdered women."[This quote needs a citation] It was published in August 2019 by Penguin Random House.[7]

Podcast

In December 2018, Gatwood started the podcast, Say More, with "her best friend and fellow poet", Melissa Lozada-Oliva,[citation needed] in which they interview each other on topics and answer emailed questions from listeners.[citation needed] It had presented its fortieth episode by the end of 2019.[8]

Select poems

  • "Jordan Convinced Me That Pads Were Disgusting" (2016)[9]
  • "Back-pedal" (2016)
  • "The Autocross" (2016)
  • "When The Prettiest Girl in School Asks to Play Cricket at Recess" (2016)
  • "Bubblegum or Bruise" (2016)
  • "Hey Science" (2016)[10]
  • "Ode to my Bitch Face"[11]
  • "Liberty" (2016)[12]
  • "Two Poems" (2017)
  • "Poetry Suite" (2017)
  • "Ode to the Women on Long Island" (2017)[13]

Personal life

As of December 2018, Gatwood resided in Santa Cruz, California, in the Unites States.[14][self-published source?]

References

  1. ^ Tardiff, Sara; Gatwood, Olivia; etc. (April 24, 2017). "Five Spoken Word Poets Whose Work Will Change You: Olivia Gatwood" (interview). Nylon.com. Retrieved November 13, 2018.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. ^ a b Fosler-Jones, Elizabeth (April 7, 2017). "Spoken Word Poet and Activist Olivia Gatwood to Speak on Feminism, Sexual Assault". The Bowdoin Orient. Retrieved December 19, 2018.
  3. ^ Abelis, Ona (June 29, 2015). "Speak Like a Girl: Two of Brooklyn's Best Feminist Poets Take Their Show on the Road". Brooklyn Magazine. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
  4. ^ Black, Kimberly (January 8, 2020). ""They've Got Us So Conditioned That We Purchase Our Oppression": Human Rights, Social Protest and Liberation Discourses in Spoken Word Poetry by Urban Youth" (unpublished faculty draft). Chicago State University. Retrieved January 8, 2020. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help) See also this format.
  5. ^ Bastress, Samantha. "BookMark: "New American Best Friend" by Olivia Gatwood". WPSU (FM). Retrieved December 19, 2018.
  6. ^ "Best Poetry 2017". Retrieved April 9, 2019.
  7. ^ https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/600047/life-of-the-party-by-olivia-gatwood/9781984801906/
  8. ^ Gatwood, Olivia & Lozada-Oliva, Melissa (January 8, 2020). "Say More" (podcast). iTunes.Apple.com. Retrieved January 8, 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  9. ^ Gatwood, Olivia. "Jordan Convinced Me That Pads Were Disgusting". Muzzle Magazine. Retrieved April 9, 2019.
  10. ^ Vagianos, Alanna (February 3, 2016). "The Perfect Response To Science's Sexist Approach To Women's Bodies". Huffington Post. Retrieved December 19, 2018.
  11. ^ Hatch, Jenavieve (April 7, 2016). "One Poet's Ode To Her Resting Bitch Face". Huffington Post. Retrieved December 19, 2018.
  12. ^ Gatwood, Olivia. "Liberty". Winter Tangerine. Retrieved April 9, 2019.
  13. ^ Uda, Rachel (July 24, 2017). "Poet's ode to LI women shared by 'Star Trek' star, goes viral". Newsday. Retrieved December 19, 2018.
  14. ^ "Home | Olivia Gatwood". Home | Olivia Gatwood. Retrieved December 18, 2018.

Further reading

External links

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