Andy Karol, Chicago slam poet and creative mind.
Andy Karol met with quick success when she began performing her poetry in public just a few years ago. Part of that success included representing Chicago in the 2015 National Poetry Slam in Oakland, California with the Lethal Poetry slam team. But Andy doesn’t sound like most slam poets. She’s a lot less in-your-face than the typical slammer and her poetry portrays a kind of sensitive inward –looking vulnerability that is also not the slam norm.
Her first chapbook Fail-Safe was published in 2014, the year she was a semi-finalist in the Gwendolyn Brooks Open Mic Awards. She’s an active performer around Chicago and beyond including places like SPACE in Evanston and the Joffrey Tower as part of the Dance Chance Redux: 6.0 show.
When Andy’s not writing or performing, she’s photographing portraits, being schooled by her 7-year-old son, Noah, or chasing her chihuahua, Humphrey.
Her interest in themes of parenting, mental health, sexuality and gender result in poems that get to the heart of important life issues anyone can relate to. She recently signed on to tour with Cometry, a poetry/comedy/education ensemble. The schedule is on her FB page. To hear her read, check out her appearance on our podcast, click here