I absolutely love spoken word, but I wasn't really aware of queer spoken artists - besides Staceyann Chin, of course. But I'm really like Andrea Gibson - anyone have more suggestions?

Woot! I'm so happy to see Andrea Gibson on your site! I've been listing to her for ages. If you ever have a chance to see her preform live take it, she's phenominal!

staceyann chin comes in mind.

 the following might not be queer, but they leave quiet an impression. 

i cant seem to shake off Zora Howard's renactemnt of "Bi-racial hair" from Urban Word NYC Annual Teen Poetry Slam at 2006.

Jasmine Mans is a favorite too, she did a piece about sexual abuse that was just...chilling. i can never get over it.

i think spoken poetry is the hardest thing anyone could do...kudos to all the brave women who manage to exude such powerful emotions during performance.

 

i love andrea gibson!

 

also staceyann chin and marty mcconnell!

i'd love afterellen to do more stories on spoken word. it's such an amazing sociopolitical art form.

i thought of a couple more!

Alix Olson is pretty awesome

Yalini Dream is such a great performer.

 

I was introduced to her after hearing about her when she won the 1st ever "Women of the World Poetry Slam." Love her "Say Yes" and "For Eli" poems. - two of my favorites

Staceyann Chin, C.C. Carter, Kathleen Delaney, Samantha Barrow - to name a few

Thanks for writing this article, I don't think spoken word artist get enough visibility. I think it is such a unique gift to be able to be a spoken word artist.   : )

" True enjoyment comes from activity of the mind and exercise of the body; the two are ever united" ~ Wilhelm von Humbolt

...myspace and took a listen. She's pretty good. :) Spoken word is a beautiful artform.

I love her, I've only recently heard of her though but I love what I have heard so far.

Thanks for posting this. I've been to 4 or 5 of Andrea's shows and have talked to her on more than one occasion.  Do check out her poetry when you get a chance. She has a real gift.

As for other recommendations, I just saw Good Asian Drivers which feature both music and spoken word last month. Pretty good and very queer.

I haven't listened to Yellowbird yet, but I own her other 3 CDs & it must be said that she is STELLAR.

I love her SO. MUCH.

I also really love Athens Boys Choir. It's this trans guy, Katz, out of Athens, Georgia and he does a really cool spoken word/hip hop kind of thing. He's also one of the friendliest artists I know. Last November, I sent him an email to ask if he could play a show here in Virginia and help moderate a discussion I was planning on gender identity, and he did it for free. It was absolutely incredible.

 Okay, rant over, haha. Yes, I enjoy her very much.

Joanna hoffman is another awesome queer poet.  her myspace is http://www.myspace.com/joannahoffman  She used to be from baltimore which is why I know of her, but now performs in nyc and has gone to national slam a few times.

I used to follow her...thank you for the reminder. I love her, and I'm the biggest slam poetry fan you'll ever meet. Does she ever make it out to Dallas or Austin?

I first heard Andrea when I moved to Boulder, Colorado four years ago. She is AMAZING and even better, a really awesome and kind chick. As for other queer spoken word artists, I'd recommend Buddy Wakefield too and Katie Wiersing from Denver, who also tours with Andrea at times. 

 

 

"Lucy: I'm kinda hot. That's kinda serious." - High Art

I not only had the priveledge of seeing her perform in the Salt Lines tour a few months ago, but I also was able to attend a small gender workshop led by her and the three other women in the Salt Lines tour...I also spent a good while hanging out and talking to her.
She's such an amazing person, in her art, and in the way she connects with her fans...She's so humble and full of knowledge, and SO nice.
And seeing her perform is just absolutely mind-blowing.

Andrea Gibson is awesome. Pride Alliance and TerPoets set up a queer slam poetry series at my university and she was there.  Another great queer female slam poet is her Denver teammate Katie Wirsing.  They did a tour in Ireland together and did some two-person slams which were really good.  Also Katie Wirsing's "Frank Sinatra" makes me cry- it's incredibly moving.  And i LOVE her piece "Rosary Beads", it's really funny. Check her out!

Rosary Beads:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BA4LBjEut0k

Frank Sinatra:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIaO6-8vPsA&feature=related

and the next time i'll be able to see her is in november or something like that, but i will be there.

some of my favorite poems by her are "I Do," "Ashes," and "Swingset," among others. and of course im also a fan of Alix Olson and Staceyann Chin.

 

and in our honesty, together we will rise. out of our nightminds and into the light at the end of the fight...

Thank you for posting this. I doubt I would ever hear about her if it were for this site. I went to hear her poetry and she is extremely talented with her words and flow. I wish I found about her earlier and I would have been able to see her in San Francisco tonight; hopefully she circles around US again. 

http://twitter.com/pestothepirate

andrea gibson is a god. she actually just got off the salt lines tour with other self described queer poets sonya renee, denise jolly, and tara hardy (if you're looking them up on youtube i'd start with slices, a million faces, and poem one, corresponding tot he respective poets). all of these women are brilliant, powerful women that set a great example for young poets and young women in general.

there are actually alot of queer women in the slam scene, but other queer women artists (that are pretty huge on the national scale) include
marty mcconnell (especially listen to instructions for a body)
alix olsen
katie wirsing
staceyann chin

if you're new to slam i'd also recommend giving these a listen
anis mojgani (shake the dust)
buddy wakefield (human the death dance)
patricia smith (skinhead)
shira erlichman (daddy's parking lot sermon)
ken arkind (for wes)
danny sherrard (we are prometheus)
roger bonair-agard
rachel mckibbins
...i could go on forever

and if anyone lives in the chicago area and will be around july 14-19, chicago is the location of this year's brave new voices- a national youth poetry slam including over 50 teams from across the country and some of the nation's most vibrant young voices. absolutely something that shouldn't be missed.