Alix Olson
Template:Short description Template:Distinguish Template:Infobox person Alix L. Olson (born 1975<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>) is an American poet who works exclusively in spoken word.<ref>"Verbal Fireworks: Slam Poet Alix Olson", Radio Netherlands Archives, October 24, 2005</ref> She uses her work to address issues of capitalism, racism, sexism, homophobia, heterosexism, misogyny, and patriarchy. She identifies as a queer feminist.<ref name="progressive">Template:Citation</ref>
Early years and educationEdit
Olson was born in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in 1975 to parents who were both politically minded professors and held ideals that she believes were passed along to her. She has recalled early childhood memories sitting under a table coloring protest signs.<ref name="progressive" />
Olson attended Stockholm University in 1996. She received a BA from Wesleyan University in 2007 and a PhD in political science from the University of Massachusetts Amherst with a graduate certificate in advanced feminist studies.<ref name=":3" />
CareerEdit
Olson taught as faculty at the Juniper Institute for Young Writers at University of Massachusetts Amherst in Summer 2011 and 2012, at CSU Summer Arts at California State University in Fresno, California, and at the Eleanor Roosevelt Center at Val Kill's Young Women's Leadership.
Poetry and mediaEdit
In 1997, Olson began performing at the Nuyorican Poets Café, where she helped develop the 1998 Nuyorican poetry slam team. She and fellow Nuyorican team members Lynne Procope, Steve Colman, and Guy LeCharles Gonzalez won the 1998 National Poetry Slam championship in Austin, Texas.<ref name="wiyf">Aptowicz, Cristin O'Keefe. (2008). Words in Your Face: A Guided Tour Through Twenty Years of the New York City Poetry Slam. New York City: Soft Skull Press. "Chapter 19: And Two Become Three; Mouth Almighy Becomes NYC-Urbana and Nuyo's Championship Team Becomes louderARTS" Template:ISBN.</ref> Soft Skull Press published Burning Down the House, an anthology that showcased poetry by Olson and her teammates and poetry by Roger Bonair-Agard, the 1998 Nuyorican Team's coach.<ref name="burn">Template:Cite book</ref> In 1999, Olson beat Stacey Ann Chin in a slam off, giving her the title of the OUTWRITE slam champion.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Olson recorded and published three spoken word CDs: Built Like That (2001), Independence Meal (2004), and Protagonist (2014). She was the subject of the documentary Left Lane: On the Road with Folk Poet Alix Olson, which was released in 2004.<ref name=":1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In June 2006, Olson co-hosted the Sixth Annual Outmusic Awards with Ari Gold at the Knitting Factory in Rochester, New York.<ref name=":2">Template:Cite magazine</ref>
She is editor of Word Warriors: 35 Women Leaders in the Spoken Word Revolution with a foreword by Eve Ensler, a spoken word anthology published in 2007,<ref name="ww">Template:Cite book</ref> which features contributions by Patricia Smith, Eileen Myles, Suheir Hammad, Staceyann Chin, Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz, Lynn Breedlove, Michelle Tea, and others.<ref name="ww" /> Olson's poem "Warrior" is referenced in the book Fight like a Girl: How to be a Fearless Feminist by Megan Seely.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
In July 2014, blogger Justyn Hintze wrote about Apple's engraving service, which she felt was exhibiting sexist programming.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> According to Hintze, the programming came to her attention when she attempted to engrave her new iDevice with an Olson lyric, "I’ll give myself a lube job, shake my broomstick 'til my clit throbs", a lyric Hintze described as "feminist, sex-positive, and it makes me smile. Every. single. time."
The blog and subsequent campaign on Twitter, #MyClitMyChoice, garnered media attention.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Olson's work has been featured on NPR, HBO's Def Poetry Jam, Rachel Maddow's Air America radio show, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Curve magazine, Girlfriends magazine, The Advocate, Out magazine, the Lesbian Review of Books, and other media outlets.<ref name=":3">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> She has appeared on the covers of Lambda Book Report, Lavender Lens, Velvet Park magazine,<ref name=":4" /> and Ms. magazine.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name=":4">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> She has spoken to the National Organization for Women, GenderPAC, the Lesbian Summit, and poetry festivals in several countries. In 2004, she performed for at March for Women's Lives in Washington, D.C.<ref name=":4" />
Oxford College of Emory UniversityEdit
Olson is an Associate Professor of women's, gender, and sexuality studies at Oxford College of Emory University in Oxford, Georgia. Her latest book is called The Ends of Resistance: Making and Unmaking Democracy (Columbia University Press, 2024).
Critical analysisEdit
bell hooks described Word Warriors: 35 Women Leaders in the Spoken Word Revolution (Seal Press, 2007), which Olson edited, as "daring to be heard.. to resurrect you."<ref name=":3" /> Historian and activist Howard Zinn called Olson "an ingenious poet, a brilliant performer, a funny person, a serious thinker. Quite simply, extraordinary."<ref name=":4" /> A critique in Utne Reader calls Olson "...the spoken word diva everyone's talking about."<ref name=":4" /> In describing her live performances, The Progressive calls Olson "an electrifying performer who seduces the audience with wit and energy, spinning tales of life on the road between her fiery poems. A sharpshooter with theatrical flair, Olson oozes both love and rage." The Progressive referenced Olson as a "word warrior",<ref name=":4" /> and Ms. Magazine described her as a "road-poet-on-a-mission."<ref name=":4" />
BooksEdit
- Word Warriors: 35 Women Leaders in the Spoken Word Revolution, Seal Press, 2007<ref name=":3" />
- Burning Down the House, Soft Skull Press, 2003<ref name=":3" />
AwardsEdit
- 1998: National Nuyorican Poetry Slam champion, Austin, Texas.<ref name=":3" />
- 1999: OUTWRITE slam champion<ref name=":3" />
- 2000: New York Foundation for the Arts fellowship<ref name=":3" />
- 2002: Three-time nominee for "Outstanding Artist-Activist" for the OUTMusic Awards<ref name=":4" />
- 2003: Rape Crisis "Visionary Award" along with Margaret Cho and Nobuko Oyabu<ref name=":4" />
- 2004: "Best activist" (along with MoveOn) as part of Venus magazine's "Hott List" and OutMusician of the Year by OutMusic for Excellence in artistic expression and LGBT community activism.<ref name=":4" />
- 2011: Political science travel grant from the University of Massachusetts Amherst<ref name=":3" />
- 2012: Research assistantship as part of the Graduate Research Initiative Program and the University of Massachusetts Amherst's "Student Choice Teaching Award"<ref name=":3" />
- 2013: Center for Research on Families fellowship and Distinguished Teaching Award, University of Massachusetts Amherst<ref name=":3" />
- 2016: New Political Science Christian Bay Award<ref name=":3" />
- Olson was awarded the Barbara Deming Award and offered a Hedgebrook Fellowship, which she declined<ref name=":3" />
DiscographyEdit
- 2001: Built Like That
- 2003: Independence Meal
- 2014: Protagonist