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Potential page for Olivia Gatwood. Still being edited.

Olivia Gatwood is a writer and contemporary poet based in New York. Gatwood is also the co-founder of the feminist poetry group, SPEAK LIKE A GIRL.

Personal Life

Olivia Gatwood was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico on February 23, 1992. She has been identified frequently in her young life for her poetry supporting feminism and for her passion in preventing sexual harassment. Gatwood currently lives in Brooklyn, New York where she is continuing her education, creating more works of poetry, and speaking at events where her voice can create positive changes for women in society.

Writer:

Currently living in Brooklyn, Gatwood continues expanding her knowledge at Pratt Institute studying fiction (Bustle). However, she states in an interview that from the age of fourteen or fifteen she began to study poetry intensively. Having been a young girl who was both into poetry and sports, she grew tired of the sexism that she witnessed in sports. This ultimately led to her often times written about the topic of sexism. After having quit soccer, a sport that she had played for 15 years, she became more involved in poetry. Here is when she joined a poetry club, which led to her participating in youth poetry slams, national poetry slams, and to her eventual career that she has now established as a poet. (Oomen)

Along with her poetry, she has also established a career with other elements of writing. Gatwood as well makes many articles that explore topics about relationships, sex, and feminism.

Gatwood states that much of the inspiration for her writing comes from what she knows and has experienced as a woman, also from showing her rage from sexism and patriarchy. She therefore later states within an interview that her advice to female poets is to write what they would have needed to read, giving female poets the chance to inspire others through poetry (Oomen).

"Olivia Gatwood." Bustle. Bustle. Web. 11 Nov. 2018.

Oomen, Emily. "Girls Who Make Art: Interview with Poets Olivia Gatwood and Meghan Fal." Mimpmag. Mimpmag, 16

March  2017. Web. 12 November 2018.

4. Columnist

Olivia Gatwood is a sex and relationships columnist on the website “Bustle.” Some of her works as a columnist include titles such as, “8 Ways To Fight Better With Your Partner”, “What You Only Learn About Sex After You Have It”, and, “5 Signs You And Your Partner Trust Each Other.” A lot of this information is also transferred into her poetry and the personal experiences she has gone through to create herself as a poet and a writer. Most of her poetry based from sex and relationship type categories making her excel in these topics and be passionate about them.

5. Poetry (SPEAK LIKE A GIRL)

As Gatwood is a Feminist spoken word poet, her most well known poems are “Ode to My Bitchface” and “Manic Pixie Dream Girl”. She also released a chapbook titled Drunk Sugar. Gatwood’s performances have been featured on HBO’s Brave New Voices (2010) where she was a finalist, MTV, VH1, BBC, and Button Poetry among others. She has was a finalist at the National Poetry Slam and nominated for the Goodreads Choice Awards Best Poetry.

Gatwood’s poems include:


 * Ode to My Bitchface
 * Manic Pixie Dream
 * Ode to My Lover’s Left Hand
 * Backpedal
 * The Scholar
 * Alternate Universe in Which I Am Unfazed by the Men Who Do Not Love Me

She, along with Megan Falley, founded the feminist interactive poetry show SPEAK LIKE A GIRL.

5.5 Awards/ Accomplishments


 * Finalist at Brave New Voices, Women of the World, and the National Poetry Slam.
 * Finalist for the Missouri Review‘s 2017 Jeffrey E. Smith Editors’ Prize.
 * Poetry featured in HBO, VH1, MTV, BBC, and Huffington post.
 * Poetry featured in several poetry magazines.
 * Published book (New American Best Friend)
 * Ted Talk - | We find each other in the details

6. References / External Links

| Muzzle Magazine Footnote on Olivia Gatwood

| Alex McKelley: “Olivia Gatwood: The 26-Year-Old Poet You Should Be Watching”

| Olivia Gatwood’s website

| Missouri Review poem of the week

| Angie Romines: Review of Olivia Gatwood's New American Best Friend (Button Poetry, 2017)

| Brittany Adames: Slam Poet Olivia Gatwood Talks Poetry and Her Creative Process

| JULIANA CRESCENZO, ASHLEY HADEN, & MIKAELA LANGDON: YOUR NEW AMERICAN BEST FRIEND: AN INTERVIEW WITH OLIVIA GATWOOD

| Poet Olivia Gatwood at the Stardust

| Ari Eastman: Olivia Gatwood’s Debut Poetry Collection Is The Book I Wish I Had As A Teenage Girl

| Sara Tardiff: Five Spoken Word Poets Whose Work Will Change You

| Olivia Gatwood: “ode to my lover’s left hand”

| Inseam: Olivia Gatwood

⏐ Heartline: Three Poems from Speak Like a Girl