Meet Author, Poet, and Visual Storyteller Q.Gibson

Q.Gibson is an outstanding poet, writer, and visual storyteller from Cleveland, Ohio. Her writing continues to captivate many people of all ages. In much of Gibson's writing she creatively and beautifully speaks of self-healing, femininity and more. Q. Gibson has previously released an inspirational and empowering collection of writing,The Flowering Woman: Becoming and Being, which covers self love, trauma, personal growth, womanhood. She will soon be releasing another highly anticipated collection of writing, The Sweetness in Soil, in November 2016. Read the full Q&A below and find out how Q. Gibson hopes to impact women, how writing is therapeutic, what projects she has coming up and more.

All photos courtesy of Q.Gibson

ANGELICA: You released a beautiful, inspirational, empowering book called The Flowering Woman: Becoming and Being, can you share what the book symbolizes for you and what messages you are pushing through that body of work?

Q.GIBSON: Thank you so much, Angelica. For me that book symbolizes healing. There is so much power in between the pages and since it's release I still can't believe it is out there in the world doing the work I'd set out for it to do. I push a few messages throughout the book mostly on healing, self-journey, overcoming abuse/trauma, and growing through life. A lot of the prose and pieces come from a very raw space. They come from a lot of my experiences as well as things I have been surrounded by. Other parts are in regards to a lot of the universal aches and triumphs we experience as women. The writing for me was cathartic and I hope the reading is cathartic for the women/men who take it in.

ANGELICA: I am a huge fan of your writing and I love the poetic quotes that you post throughout your Instagram. Many of them are so concise but full of so much meaning, as a woman I can relate with your work, it’s very powerful and provides enlightenment and healing for many women. In general, what ways do you hope to affect Black women?

Q.GIBSON: Seriously thank you, those words mean so much to me. I like to get fun with my Instagram posts. I like just being able to post accessible writings and small inspirations there as a daily healing mechanism for others or a source of small reading opportunity. Some days I get up and sit in bed just writing a series of small pieces during the mornings to share because you just never know what someone needs to hear or how powerful the words will be. I do think a lot of the work is relatable, I enjoy that part of it because sometimes you don't always get words you can relate to. I hope to affect Black women by sparking and triggering healing even if only in a minuscule way. I know a lot of Black women and women in general who have dealt with all sorts of pain and traumas, my work has kind of been a way to say, "You will get through". I'm currently working on a second collection of writings for release late November and I really want to be able to shed light on the narrative of some Black women, I can only pray this too sparks dialogue, healing and a sense of intrigue for our women.

ANGELICA:As a poet, I often face writer's block, even when I have great ideas and know what I want to write about sometimes it’s hard to transcribe those thoughts. Creative blocks are quite annoying. What do you do during the times when you really want to write but are facing writer's block?

Q.GIBSON: That's understandable. I simply don't write. I feel we put a lot of pressure on ourselves at times to force writing when sometimes the body and mind is calling for something else, needing some other sort of attention. I don't think it's too much of a writer's block but ourselves telling us to slow down and live. When I feel I don't have much to write, or that I am not in a mental/physical/spiritual space to produce what I think is my best work at the time I do other things. I go for a walk with my sun, look at plants, lay under trees, read, listen to good music, watch movies, talk to friends. I find inspiration and rejuvenation in these things. Then I am ready to give my all to the project again. It's all about balance and taking time for yourself.

ANGELICA: In what ways are writing and poetry therapeutic for you?

Q.GIBSON: Writing has always been therapeutic for me. Even before I set out to write a book I can recall in my younger days just writing to release or as leisure. I kept numerous journals. I was very outgoing but also kept to myself a lot when it came to troubling issues or coping with certain things, so I wrote. I tried writing poetry for my mother at times when I was younger, I was into a bit of everything. As I got older, more into storytelling and creative writing I really just began to use my writing as a way to tell true stories, to heal, and to empower others. It's therapeutic for me because I get to share bits of literature and writing with the world in ways that not only impact me but most importantly the reader.

ANGELICA: When you are writing what places within yourself are you writing from?

Q. GIBSON: Honestly, I have no clue. I am just writing from experience as well as curiosity. All of this is from somewhere within, I just don't know which parts. I have questions about the things I have gone through, some which have been answered , some that will never be answered. I have questions about why the world is the way it is, some I have answers to, some which I don't. All of the writing is from a place of trying to understand life and make it a more graspable journey without losing the reality of it.

ANGELICA: Much of your writing hints at the importance of self-care, what are a few things you do to maintain your well-being?

Q.GIBSON: It does. Well, a lot of the short social media pieces I think but inside the book, you get a bit of everything. Especially this next book I am going in a bit of a new direction because I want to shed light on the inner-city and both the beauty and ugliness of it. I just got back into working out consistently and have started focusing more on my all around well-being. Prayer, time to myself, relaxation these are my go to things to do for self-care. When I am taking care of myself I can truly say I am at my best.

ANGELICA: What else does Q. Gibson enjoy doing on the daily basis?

Q.GIBSON: Aside from writing, I do photography and that is freeing for me as well. I love good imagery. I enjoy just shooting around and nevertheless just getting a chance to lay around and cuddle with my son. Sometimes I cuddle with him a little too much and he gets sick of me!

ANGELICA: For me I began writing because I needed something to help me overcome adversities. I was once going through so much and didn’t have people I could open up to about them. So, essentially, writing was what helped me open up, come face to face with my pain, and heal myself. Was there anything in specific that made you turn to poetry?

Q.GIBSON: There was. I believe poetry deals a lot with the innermost pieces of us, that's why I needed it. It's a more expressive form of writing. I too had been dealing with a lot or needing to release a lot and I had people to turn to but that still wasn't cutting it. I'd been writing these short pieces for a while and one day I said, "I'm going to piece it all together". I didn't notice how much or how long I'd been pouring out these works until I began to scrounge around for pieces I'd written here and there. It made me revisit a lot of things and still brought to the light things I needed to tackle.

ANGELICA: Do you have any other books in the works or projects coming up that we can expect?

Q.GIBSON: I do. The Sweetness in Soil is a hybrid collection of very short stories, poems, and writings that shed light on growing up Black and woman in the inner-city. I believe it is very necessary and also sheds light on a lot of the beauties people don't see in that kind of upbringing as well as the struggles they often ignore. It's a big step for me. It's a mixture of both light and heavy writings but it is indeed true to who I am and what needs to be said. Hopefully, it shows my growth as a writer, and impacts even more lives. I also hope to do a lot of work with some women's communities and new faces I've met so hoping that will come to light soon.

ANGELICA: Do you have any additional comments?

Q.GIBSON: Just thank you for having me and helping me to share and spread the impact through writing. Thank you so much. Looking forward to the future in it all.