Olivia Gatwood

Olivia Gatwood was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico on February 23, 1992. Her mother, Jill, is a sex educator and H.I.V. epidemiologist and her father, Byron, is a middle school teacher.[1] She spent three years in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago where she began writing poetry at age 11 at the suggestion of a librarian.[2] Gatwood's continued interest in poetry stemmed from her use of the art form as an outlet for her emotions; in an interview she explained, "teenagers have a lot of feelings and thoughts, but are often told that there's no space for those things to exist. But spoken word is the exact opposite. The more you can express, the better."[3]

While still in high school, Gatwood led a collection of women who reported a local bakery to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for sexual harassment and won a settlement of over $10,000.[1]

Gatwood graduated from the Pratt Institute's fiction program in 2015.[3]

Gatwood is a poet, writer, activist, speaker, and educator on topics that include sexual assault prevention and recovery.[4] Gatwood was a finalist at Brave New Voices, Women of the World and the National Poetry Slam. Her performances have been featured on HBO, Huffington Post, MTV, VH1, and BBC among others. Her work has been featured in Muzzle Magazine, The Winter Tangerine Review, Poetry City U.S.A., Tinderbox Poetry Journal, and The Missouri Review.

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. The pair has performed "Speak Like a Girl" in cities across the United States, including Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, and Detroit.[3]

Gatwood is the author of two poetry collections, New American Best Friend (2017) and Life of the Party (2019). She also contributed to Woke: A Young Poet's Call to Justice (2020, with Mahogany L. Browne and Elizabeth Acevedo).[5] Her first novel, Whoever You Are, Honey, is set to be released by The Dial Press at Random House in early 2022.

Many of her recorded readings can be found on Gatwood's website and at Button Poetry. Among her most widely recognized and lauded poems are the following:

As of February 2020, Gatwood resides in Santa Cruz, California.[17]

• Albert, Victoria & Gatwood, Olivia (February 17, 2018). "Poet Olivia Gatwood Writes Like Teen Spirit: BUST Interview". BUST.com. Archived from the original on 2018-02-17. Retrieved January 8, 2020.
• Gatwood, Olivia (September 5, 2019). Olivia Gatwood performs poems from LIFE OF THE PARTY, The Bell House, Brooklyn (streaming video). New York, NY: Penguin Random House. Retrieved January 9, 2020. 0:00—Girl; 3:00—My Mother Says I Wasn't A Bad Girl; 6:15—We All Got Burnt That Summer; 9:15—My Grandmother Asks Why I Don't Trust Men; 12:06 Mans/Laughter; 16:40—Murder Of A Little Beauty; 18:05—She Lit Up Every Room She Walked Into; 20:38—Aileen Wurnos Takes A Lover Home; 24:10—Ode To Pink; 26:23—All Of The Missing Girls Are Hanging Out Without Us.

• Official website