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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 creating her debut novel, New American Best Friend. Gatwood writes 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 made this book in an effort to celebrate ones one body, with short poems such as "Ode to my Bitch Face", "Like Us, and "The First Shave".[citation needed]

New American Best Friend has been met with mixed criticism. It has been both praised for being a raw and unedited view into the glimpse of a teenage girl's life, and criticized for being too critical and biased about common occurrences in society, and for being too feminist based.[citation needed]

In 2017, New American Best Friend was nominated for the Goodreads Choice Awards Best Poetry.[6]

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.'[7] It will be available for purchase in August 2019.[8]

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.[9]

Select poems

  • "Jordan Convinced Me That Pads Were Disgusting" (2016)[10]
  • "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)[11]
  • "Ode to my Bitch Face"[12]
  • "Liberty" (2016)[13]
  • "Two Poems" (2017)
  • "Poetry Suite" (2017)
  • "Ode to the Women on Long Island" (2017)[14]

Personal life

As of December 2018, Gatwood resided in Santa Cruz, California, in the Unites States.[15][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. ^ "Transcript of EP. 6- TRUE CRIME AND SELENA". Retrieved April 9, 2019.
  8. ^ "Life of the Party: Poems". Retrieved April 9, 2019.
  9. ^ 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)
  10. ^ Gatwood, Olivia. "Jordan Convinced Me That Pads Were Disgusting". Muzzle Magazine. Retrieved April 9, 2019.
  11. ^ Vagianos, Alanna (February 3, 2016). "The Perfect Response To Science's Sexist Approach To Women's Bodies". Huffington Post. Retrieved December 19, 2018.
  12. ^ Hatch, Jenavieve (April 7, 2016). "One Poet's Ode To Her Resting Bitch Face". Huffington Post. Retrieved December 19, 2018.
  13. ^ Gatwood, Olivia. "Liberty". Winter Tangerine. Retrieved April 9, 2019.
  14. ^ Uda, Rachel (July 24, 2017). "Poet's ode to LI women shared by 'Star Trek' star, goes viral". Newsday. Retrieved December 19, 2018.
  15. ^ "Home | Olivia Gatwood". Home | Olivia Gatwood. Retrieved December 18, 2018.

Further reading

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