by Amy Neevel
Following in the tradition of such poets as Pat Parker and Allen Ginsberg, Alix Olson is gaining fame for being queer and angry out loud. Best known for her membership on the Nuyorican Poetry Slam Team--1998's Grand Championships of the art form--Olson has also performed with SisterSpit, the Lesbian Nation's poetry/performance group. Her works present a combination of anger and mind-jolting lifestyle validation. "The president should be a black transgender bulldyke," as one poem puts it.
Frequently asked by fans if she would ever allow her poems to be used in commercial advertising, she has always said no. This is not to say her work isn't available to the people; an official Web site (www.alixolson.com) now makes it possible to order Olson's work online. When not on the slam circuit, she leads poetry-slam seminars for female inmates incarcerated on Riker's Island.
Olson would like to see more women involved in the slam community: "There's always an opportunity to have your voice heard. A lot of eager listeners want their lifestyles to be validated. If you can do that in a creative way, that's really stimulating."
We hear ya, Alix.