Colorado’s poet laureate, Andrea Gibson, died Monday at age 49 after a four-year battle with ovarian cancer.

The Boulder-based queer activist, author and slam poet was named the state’s poet laureate in September 2023.

“It is with a heavy heart that we mourn the loss of Andrea Gibson, an inspiring poet and Colorado’s current poet laureate,” Gov. Jared Polis said in a post on X and a news release Monday. “Renowned for inspiring poetry, advocacy for arts in education, and a unique ability to connect with the vast and diverse poetry lovers of Colorado, Andrea was truly one of a kind and will be deeply missed by personal friends as well as all who were touched by their poetry. My thoughts go out to Andrea’s loved ones during this difficult time.”

Gibson is from Calais, Maine, and lived in Boulder since 1999. Gibson, whose pronouns are they/them, was a four-time Denver Grand Slam champion and focused work around a range of topics, including LGBTQIA+ issues, spirituality, feminism, mental health, gun reform and the dismantling of what activists describe as oppressive systems.

In a Facebook post announcing Gibson’s death, the poet is quoted saying, “Whenever I leave this world, whether it’s 60 years from now, I wouldn’t want anyone to say I lost some battle. I’ll be a winner that day.”

Gibson’s death was announced on social media by Gibson’s wife, Megan Falley.

Gibson and Falley are featured in the highly anticipated documentary “Come See Me in the Good Light,” winner of the Festival Favorite Award this year at Sundance and scheduled to air this fall on Apple TV+. The film is directed by Ryan White and includes an original song written by Gibson, Sara Bareilles and Brandi Carlile.

The social media post read, “On July 14th, at 4:16 a.m., Andrea Gibson died in their home surrounded by their wife, Meg, four ex-girlfriends, their mother and father, dozens of friends, and their three beloved dogs.”

As Colorado’s poet laureate, Gibson served as an active advocate for poetry, literacy and literature by participating in readings at schools, libraries, festivals and other events across the state.

“Come See Me in the Good Light” focuses on Gibson’s journey since getting an incurable cancer diagnosis. 

“I am proud of Andrea for sharing a very personal story with the world through this film,” Polis told The Denver Gazette earlier this year. “As the son of a poet, I grew up surrounded by the impacts of the arts, which has strengthened my belief in the importance and value of the arts in Colorado.”

Gibson, who was considered a rock star of spoken-word poetry, was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2021.

“At first I thought it was a stomach bug,” Gibson said in the film.

In a 2023 YouTube video titled “How Cancer Transformed My Crushing Anxiety Into Boundless Bliss” posted by user StyleLikeU, Gibson said that before their diagnosis they had always been a hypochondriac and a very scared person.  

“When I got diagnosed, all of that went away in an instant. The worst thing that I could imagine happening, happened and there was almost this relief because I had been bracing for it my entire life,” Gibson said.

Gibson described how sickness also brings about healing.

“I don’t think there’s any way I could say, even if I died a month from now, that it wouldn’t have been worth it,” Gibson shared in the video.

A prolific author, Gibson published seven books and frequently wrote on Substack about everyday life and their cancer journey.

In a 2017 essay published in Out magazine, Gibson remembered coming out at age 20 while “studying creative writing at a very Catholic college” (Saint Joseph’s College of Maine). Identifying as gender queer, Gibson wrote that they didn’t feel like a boy or a girl while growing up and cited a line of their poetry: “I am happiest on the road/ When I’m not here or there—but in-between.”

In a 2024 poem titled “The Lifegiving Benefits of Befriending Our Mortality,” Gibson wrote:

“My life is so now full it is overflowing with

how many beautiful things can be seen in a single second,

how it is possible to blow up a second like a balloon

and fit infinity inside of it, until I am bursting

with laughter when anyone calls me an old soul

because I can’t help but feel like this is my first time here

marveling at the steam rising from a cup of coffee,

or two wild geese stopping traffic as they mosey across the road,

or my own breath and another birthday candle

to celebrate the holiday of having a body.”

During an appearance at Sundance in January, Gibson said they didn’t expect to live to see the documentary. Bareilles shared a photo on social media Monday of herself wearing a gold necklace with the word “Andrea” in cursive. Gibson was “a wonder to behold and be held by,” Bareilles wrote. “This one is forever.”

The Associated Press and Denver Gazette reporters John Moore and Greta Kerkhoff contributed to this article.