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WORK TITLE: Girls on the Rise
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WEBSITE: https://www.theamandagorman.com
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Publishers Weekly vol. 271 no. 37 Sept. 30, 2024, review of Girls on the Rise.
Kirkus Reviews Nov. 15, 2024, , “Gorman, Amanda: GIRLS ON THE RISE.”.
Kirkus Reviews July 1, 2023, , “Gorman, Amanda: SOMETHING, SOMEDAY.”.
Booklist vol. 119 no. 21 July 1, 2023, Young, Michelle. , “Something, Someday.”. p. 74.
Booklist vol. 118 no. 13 Mar. 1, 2022, Jones, Nashae. , “Call Us What We Carry.”. p. 38.
Kirkus Reviews Jan. 1, 2022, , “Gorman, Amanda: CALL US WHAT WE CARRY.”.
The New York Times Book Review Dec. 12, 2021, , “Amanda Gorman.”. p. 8(L).
Publishers Weekly vol. 268 no. 48 Nov. 24, 2021, , “Change Sings: A Children’s Anthem.”. p. 13.
Kirkus Reviews July 15, 2021, , “Gorman, Amanda: CHANGE SINGS.”.
Wordsmith. Change-maker.
Amanda Gorman is the youngest inaugural poet in U.S. history, as well as an award-winning writer and cum laude graduate of Harvard University, where she studied Sociology. She has written for the New York Times and has three books forthcoming with Penguin Random House.
Born and raised in Los Angeles, she began writing at only a few years of age. Now her words have won her invitations to the Obama White House and to perform for Lin-Manuel Miranda, Al Gore, Secretary Hillary Clinton, Malala Yousafzai, and others. Amanda has performed multiple commissioned poems for CBS This Morning and she has spoken at events and venues across the country, including the Library of Congress and Lincoln Center. She has received a Genius Grant from OZY Media, as well as recognition from Scholastic Inc., YoungArts, the Glamour magazine College Women of the Year Awards, and the Webby Awards. She has written for the New York Times newsletter The Edit and penned the manifesto for Nike's 2020 Black History Month campaign. In 2017, Amanda Gorman was appointed the first-ever National Youth Poet Laureate by Urban Word – a program that supports Youth Poets Laureate in more than 60 cities, regions and states nationally. She is the recipient of the Poets & Writers Barnes & Noble Writers for Writers Award, and is the youngest board member of 826 National, the largest youth writing network in the United States.
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Amanda Gorman
Gorman in 2021 at the inauguration of Joe Biden delivering "The Hill We Climb"
Born March 7, 1998 (age 27)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Education Harvard University (BA)
Occupations
Poetactivist
Agents
IMG Models (fashion & beauty)Writers House (literary)Gang, Tyre, Ramer, Brown and Passman (legal)
Notable work "The Hill We Climb"
National Youth Poet Laureate
In office
April 2017 – April 2018
Preceded by Position established
Succeeded by Patricia Frazier
Los Angeles Youth Poet Laureate
In office
2014–2015
Preceded by Inaugural holder
Website www.theamandagorman.com Edit this at Wikidata
Amanda S. C. Gorman[1] (born March 7, 1998)[2] is an American poet, activist, and model. Her work focuses on issues of oppression, feminism, race and marginalization, as well as the African diaspora. Gorman was the first person to be named National Youth Poet Laureate. She published the poetry book The One for Whom Food Is Not Enough in 2015. She rose to fame in 2021 for writing and delivering her poem "The Hill We Climb" at the inauguration of Joe Biden. Gorman's inauguration poem generated international acclaim and shortly thereafter, two of her books achieved best-seller status, and she obtained a professional management contract.
Gorman was highlighted in Time magazine's 100 Next list under the category of "Phenoms", with a profile written by Lin-Manuel Miranda.[3] That same month, Gorman became the first poet to perform at the Super Bowl, when she delivered her poem "Chorus of the Captains" at Super Bowl LV.[4]
Early life and education
Born in Los Angeles, California,[5][6] Gorman was raised by her single mother, Dr. Joan Wicks, a 6th-grade English teacher in Watts,[7] with her two siblings.[5][8] Her twin sister, Gabrielle, is an activist[9] and filmmaker.[10] Gorman has said she grew up in an environment with limited television access.[11] She has described her young self as a "weird child" who enjoyed reading and writing and was encouraged by her mother.
Gorman has an auditory processing disorder and is hypersensitive to sound. She also had a speech impediment during childhood.[12][13] Gorman participated in speech therapy during her childhood and Elida Kocharian of The Harvard Crimson wrote in 2018, "Gorman doesn't view her speech impediment as a crutch—rather, she sees it as a gift and a strength."[14] Gorman told The Harvard Gazette in 2018, "I always saw it as a strength because since I was experiencing these obstacles in terms of my auditory and vocal skills, I became really good at reading and writing. I realised that at a young age when I was reciting the Marianne Deborah Williamson quote that 'Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate, our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure' to my mom."[1] In 2021, Gorman told CBS This Morning co-host Anthony Mason that she used songs as a form of speech therapy, and explained, "My favorite thing to practice was the song 'Aaron Burr, Sir,' from Hamilton because it is jam-packed with R's. And I said, 'if I can keep up with Leslie in this track, then I am on my way to being able to say this R in a poem."[15]
Gorman attended New Roads, a private school in Santa Monica, for grades K–12.[16] As a senior, she received a Milken Family Foundation college scholarship.[17] She studied sociology at Harvard College,[18] graduating cum laude in 2020[19][20] as a member of Phi Beta Kappa.[21][22] In 2019, Gorman spent a semester studying in Madrid, Spain,[23] supported by IES Abroad.[24]
Career
Beginnings and recognition (2014–2020)
Gorman's art and activism focus on issues of oppression, feminism, race and marginalization, as well as the African diaspora.[25][26] She has said she was inspired to become a youth delegate for the United Nations in 2013 after watching a speech by Pakistani Nobel Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai.[27] Gorman was chosen as the first youth poet laureate of Los Angeles in 2014.[28] In 2014 it was reported that Gorman was "editing the first draft of a novel the 16‑year‑old has been writing over the last two years."[29] She published the poetry book The One for Whom Food Is Not Enough in 2015.[30]
In 2016, Gorman founded the nonprofit organization One Pen One Page, a youth writing and leadership program.[31][32] In 2017, she became the first author to be featured on XQ Institute's Book of the Month, a monthly giveaway to share inspiring Gen Z's favorite books. She wrote a tribute for black athletes for Nike[33] and has a book deal with Viking Children's Books to write two children's picture books.[34][35]
Gorman reading her poem "An American Lyric" in 2017
In 2017, Gorman became the first youth poet to open the literary season for the Library of Congress, and she has read her poetry on MTV.[11][36] She wrote "In This Place: An American Lyric" for her September 2017 performance at the Library of Congress, which commemorated the inauguration of Tracy K. Smith as Poet Laureate of the United States.[14] The Morgan Library and Museum acquired her poem "In This Place (An American Lyric)" and displayed it in 2018 near works by Elizabeth Bishop.[11]
While at Harvard, Gorman became the first person to be named National Youth Poet Laureate in April 2017.[5][25][36] She was chosen from five finalists.[37] In 2017, Gorman won a $10,000 grant from media company OZY in the annual OZY Genius Awards through which 10 college students are given "the opportunity to pursue their outstanding ideas and envisioned innovations".[38]
In 2017, Gorman said she intends to run for president in 2036,[39][40][41] and she has subsequently often repeated this hope.[42] On being selected as one of Glamour magazine's 2018 "College Women of the Year", she said: "Seeing the ways that I as a young black woman can inspire people is something I want to continue in politics. I don't want to just speak works; I want to turn them into realities and actions."[43] After she read her poem "The Hill We Climb" at President Joe Biden's inauguration in 2021, Hillary Clinton tweeted her support for Gorman's 2036 aspiration.[44]
In 2019, Gorman was chosen as one of The Root magazine's "Young Futurists", an annual list of "the 25 best and brightest young African-Americans who excel in the fields of social justice and activism, arts and culture, enterprise and corporate innovation, science and technology and green innovation".[45] She expressed support for abortion rights and Roe v. Wade in a 2019 NowThis News video which included a pro-choice poem.[46][47]
In May 2020, Gorman appeared in an episode of the web series Some Good News hosted by John Krasinski, where she had the opportunity to virtually meet Oprah Winfrey and issued a virtual commencement speech to those who could not attend commencements due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S.[48] In 2020, Gorman presented "Earthrise", a poem focused on the climate crisis.[49][50]
Inauguration poem and acclaim (2021–present)
Gorman read her poem "The Hill We Climb" at the inauguration of Joe Biden on January 20, 2021, and is the youngest poet to read at a presidential inauguration in United States history.[51][52][53] Jill Biden recommended her for the inauguration.[54][55] After January 6, 2021, Gorman amended her poem's wording to address the storming of the United States Capitol.[56][15] During the week before the inauguration, she told The Washington Post book critic Ron Charles, "My hope is that my poem will represent a moment of unity for our country" and "with my words, I'll be able to speak to a new chapter and era for our nation."[57]
Gorman before reading "The Hill We Climb" at the inauguration of Joe Biden in 2021
Before her performance, Gorman told CBS This Morning co-host Anthony Mason: "One of the preparations that I do always whenever I perform is I say a mantra to myself, which is 'I'm the daughter of black writers. We're descended from freedom fighters who broke through chains and changed the world. They call me.' And that is the way in which I prepare myself for the duty that needs to get done."[15] Soon after Gorman's performance at the inauguration, her two upcoming books, the poetry collection The Hill We Climb and a project for youth, Change Sings: A Children's Anthem – both scheduled for release in September 2021 – were at the top of Amazon's bestseller list.[58] A book version of the poem "The Hill We Climb" was published in March 2021, with a foreword by Oprah Winfrey,[59] and debuted at No. 1 on several bestseller lists, including The New York Times adult fiction and USA Today.[60] First printings of one million copies were announced for each of Gorman's three upcoming books.[59]
In February 2021 the Dutch writer Marieke Lucas Rijneveld, winner of the 2020 International Booker Prize, who had been chosen to translate Gorman's poem, stepped down from the assignment following criticism that the publisher had chosen a white translator.[61][62] As noted by the BBC, Rijneveld's decision has "heightened the debate in the Netherlands over the ethics of translation and underlined Gorman's original sentiments of the hills that 'all other black girls' must climb."[63] In March 2021, it was reported that the Spanish publisher Univers after hiring writer Victor Obiols to translate Gorman's poem into Catalan had relieved him of the commission after his translation was delivered and were seeking a replacement translator; as Obiols stated: "They did not question my abilities, but they were looking for a different profile, which had to be a woman, young, activist and preferably black."[64][65] The request was said to have originated with the US group Viking Books.[66] Three translators – Kübra Gümüşay, Hadija Haruna-Oelker and Uda Strätling – worked together on the poem's German edition.[67]
In December 2021, Amanda Gorman released her poetry collection, Call Us What We Carry, published by Viking Books. The collection received critical acclaim for its exploration of themes such as identity, resilience, and the human experience.[68]
IMG Models and its parent company WME signed Gorman for representation in fashion, beauty, and talent endorsements.[69] She is represented in the publishing industry by Writers House and by the Gang, Tyre, Ramer, Brown and Passman law firm.[70] Gorman was commissioned to compose an original poem to be recited at Super Bowl LV's pregame ceremony on February 7, 2021, as an introduction to the three honorary captains who would preside over the coin toss.[71] The Washington Post reported that the honorary captains were essential workers "James Martin, a U.S. Marine veteran; Trimaine Davis, an educator; and Suzie Dorner, an ICU nurse manager", and that Gorman delivered the poem in their honor in a recorded video.[72] In advance of presenting her new piece, titled "Chorus of the Captains", Gorman said: "Poetry at the Super Bowl is a feat for art and our country, because it means we're thinking imaginatively about human connection even when we feel siloed."[73]
Gorman made the cover of Time magazine's February 2021 issue.[74] In March 2021, Gorman said she was racially profiled by a security guard near her home, and tweeted afterwards, "He left, no apology. This is the reality of black girls: One day you're called an icon, the next day, a threat."[75] She later tweeted, "In a sense, he was right. I AM A THREAT: a threat to injustice, to inequality, to ignorance. Anyone who speaks the truth and walks with hope is an obvious and fatal danger to the powers that be. A threat and proud."[75]
Gorman, who was photographed by Annie Leibovitz for the cover-story of the May edition of Vogue – the first poet ever to have been thus featured by the magazine – has said she has turned down $17 million in offers for endorsements that did not "speak to" her.[76][77] In September 2021, it was announced that Gorman would become the first Estée Lauder "Global Changemaker", as a representative of the brand in ad campaigns and speaking events, in addition to work with the company's grantmaking program to promote literacy for girls and women.[78] On September 13, 2021, she co-hosted the Met Gala, alongside actor Timothée Chalamet, singer Billie Eilish, and tennis player Naomi Osaka.[79][80][81]
In the wake of the May 2022 Robb Elementary School shooting in Uvalde, Texas, Gorman published a short poem on Twitter and encouraged action to promote gun safety,[82] as well as penning the poem, “Hymn for the Hurting.”[83] She continued to express her support for Roe v. Wade and abortion rights in a poem posted on Twitter on June 24, 2022, which includes the line, "We will not let Roe v. Wade slowly fade."[84]
Access to "The Hill We Climb" was restricted at the Bob Graham Education Center in Miami Lakes, Florida, in 2023 based on a filed complaint. In response, Gorman wrote: "Robbing children of the chance to find their voices in literature is a violation of their right to free thought and free speech."[85]
Gorman was a speaker at the 2024 Democratic National Convention.[86]
Influences
Gorman has spoken of her early attempts at writing being "very Anne of Green Gables", until she discovered the work of Toni Morrison in middle school: "I realized then that stories could actually be about people who look like me."[23] Observer.com reported in 2019: "It was in high school that she eventually read the poetry of other black women such as Audre Lorde and Phillis Wheatley, and started writing poems that commented on social justice issues such as intersectional feminism and race."[23] Taking a multi disciplined view to self-expression, Gorman has spoken of the connection between fashion and poetry; in 2019, Vogue magazine noted that Gorman drew inspiration "from icons such as Maya Angelou, the Duchess of Sussex, and Michelle Obama", saying: "Fashion brings a distinct visual aesthetic to language. When I'm performing onstage, I'm not just thinking about my clothing, but what my Wakanda Forever T-shirt and yellow skirt is saying about my identity as a poet."[87]
Personal life
Gorman is a member of St. Brigid Catholic Church in Los Angeles.[88]
Honors and recognition
2014: Chosen as inaugural youth poet laureate of Los Angeles[89]
2017: Chosen as National Youth Poet Laureate[90]
2017: Ozy Genius Award[91]
2018: Named one of Glamour magazine's College Women of the Year[92]
2018: Presented a poem at the inauguration of President of Harvard University Lawrence Bacow[93]
2019: Named on The Root's "Young Futurists" list[94]
2021: Selected to read at the inauguration of Joe Biden, becoming the youngest poet ever to read at a US presidential inauguration
2021: Highlighted by Time magazine in their Time100 Next list, under the category of "Phenoms"[3]
2021: Winner Goodreads Choice Awards - Best Poetry for The Hill We Climb [95]
2022: A new species of alga in central New York was named Gormaniella terricola.[96][97]
2022: Winner Goodreads Choice Awards - Best Poetry for Call Us What We Carry [98]
2022: Winner Children's and Family Emmy Award for Outstanding Short Form Program - We the People
2023: Nominated for Best Spoken Word Poetry Album at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards for Call Us What We Carry.[99]
2023: Elected to membership in the American Antiquarian Society.[100]
Bibliography
Books
The One for Whom Food Is Not Enough. Urban Word LA. 2015. ISBN 978-0-9900122-9-0.
Taylor, Keren, ed. (2013). "Candy Cane"; "Poetry Is". You are here : the WriteGirl journey. Los Angeles: WriteGirl Publications. pp. 210, 281. ISBN 978-0-98370812-4. OCLC 868918187.
The Hill We Climb: Poems. Viking Books for Young Readers. 2021. ISBN 978-0-593-46506-6. OCLC 1232185776.
The Hill We Climb: An Inaugural Poem for the Country. Viking Books for Young Readers. 2021. ISBN 978-0-593-46527-1. OCLC 1232234825.
Change Sings: A Children's Anthem. Viking Books for Young Readers. 2021. ISBN 978-0-593-20322-4. OCLC 1232149089.
Call Us What We Carry. Viking Books. 2021. ISBN 978-0593465066.
Something, Someday. Viking Books for Young Readers. 2023. ISBN 9780593203255. OCLC 1380856566.
Audiobooks
Change Sings: A Children's Anthem, 2021, Audible (ISBN 0593203224, 978-0-593-20322-4). 10 mins.
The Hill We Climb and Other Poems, 2021, Audible (ISBN 059346527X, 978-0593465271). 1 hr.
Articles
"How Poetry Gave Me a Voice". November 21, 2014. The Huffington Post. ISSN 2369-3452.
"Touching a Diverse Audience: A Conversation With Author Sharon G. Flake". January 30, 2015. The Huffington Post. ISSN 2369-3452.
"Meet Laya DeLeon Hayes, Voice Of Doc McStuffins". August 9, 2016. The Huffington Post. ISSN 2369-3452.
"Poetry, Purpose, and Path: An Interview with Los Angeles Poet Laureate Luis Rodriquez [sic]". HuffPost. Interviewed by Gorman, Amanda. New York. August 9, 2016. OCLC 1203304694. Retrieved January 6, 2025.[a]
"Native People Are Taking Center Stage. Finally.". November 17, 2018. The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331.
"I'm Not Here to Answer Your Black History Month Questions". February 13, 2019. The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331.
Amanda Gorman's new picture book emphasizes strength in unity for young girls
January 4, 20258:07 AM ET
Heard on Weekend Edition Saturday
Eric Deggans
Eric Deggans
8-Minute Listen
Transcript
NPR's Eric Deggans asks poet Amanda Gorman about her new picture book, "Girls on the Rise."
Sponsor Message
ERIC DEGGANS, HOST:
Poet and author Amanda Gorman offers a key line in her picture book for young readers called "Girls On The Rise" that seems to sum up the focus of her inspirational story. When one girl is on the rise, it means everyone else is, too. I can't think of a better sentiment to kick off a discussion in the new year with Amanda Gorman, the youngest inaugural poet in U.S. history - she spoke at Joe Biden's inauguration in 2021 - as well as the first person to be named the National Youth Poet Laureate, and a bestselling author here to talk about "Girls On The Rise." Amanda, welcome.
AMANDA GORMAN: Hey, thanks for having me.
DEGGANS: All right. So first, how did you get the idea to create this picture book? And is - I'm wondering if it's connected at all to this poem that you wrote in 2021 called "We Rise."
GORMAN: Yes, absolutely. So I wrote "We Rise" a few years ago. Its inception was actually around the time when Dr. Blasey Ford was testifying in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee. And I really wanted to write a poem just for myself because I was feeling so many emotions watching that testimony. And so that began as a poem that I wrote for myself. I shared it with some organizations that have done incredible work, like Vital Voices, which uplift so many female leaders. And so it started as, really, a passion project, you know, wanting to celebrate the organizations that I know who have done so much celebrating the truth of women.
DEGGANS: Man, I wish that people listening could see the vibrant colors in the imagery in this book. I mean, in one illustration, we've got a group of girls standing in this lush field, and they're holding this banner that says liberation, freedom, respect. In another, we see them walking through a dark forest to find a friend holding a lantern. How did you bring on illustrator Loveis Wise and pick these images?
GORMAN: Loveis Wise is just incredible. And I knew that I wanted this book to be - and you nailed it so correctly - so vibrant, so less, so filled with life. Because talking about gender, talking about sexism can be incredibly challenging, A, for adults, let alone for children. And so I knew the pages had to create this very vivid, safe space in which all gender identities could feel that they were involved in this conversation of what it means to be a young person who identifies as a girl.
DEGGANS: Now, you bring up a great point, which is you're talking about subjects that some parents might think are relatively advanced, but you're trying to talk about them in a way that children can understand them. How do you get your messages about equality and resisting sexism and uplifting girls - how do you format that for a young audience?
GORMAN: I always write my books with the understanding that children are far more intelligent than we give them credit for, especially emotionally. I think there's this idea that talking about gender equality is too advanced for young children. But actually, they're asking these questions and living those experiences from an incredibly young age. I mean, I remember being a young girl and being, like, why are guys telling me that I throw like a girl? Like it's an insult.
DEGGANS: Right, right.
GORMAN: Why am I getting bullied by young boys in the class? Why are there these rules that I have to play with these toys or dress in this way or speak in this way to be accepted? And I think the sooner that we create a welcoming dialogue with children or they feel that they can voice, hey, this is what's going on with me, the more better the world will be for it.
DEGGANS: Now, you know, I wouldn't ask you to read the entire poem, which covers something like 18 pages in the book. But I was wondering if you could read the lines on page 8 to page 12, which I really liked.
GORMAN: (Reading) We are beautiful - not because of how we may appear, but how we look straight into the face of fear. Yes, being a girl takes a brave heart. Sometimes we might feel scared, lost and in the dark. Some days it feels too hard to stand up on our own. But here's the thing, when one girl stands up, she is never alone.
DEGGANS: That leads to my question, which is, why is it so important to emphasize how girls are stronger when they stand together?
GORMAN: I think because so often girls feel alone. I mean, I think the research shows us this as well as just everyday experiences that being a young girl in these times can be very difficult, very challenging. And I think that's going to continue unless there's a systemic change that makes sure that girls feel safe and protected. And the more that we can stand with them and amongst them as allies - and as me as a woman myself - then there's no longer this feeling of being alone, but being part of a community that shares your value.
DEGGANS: Well, you know, you look at the headlines nowadays, and this could be a discouraging moment for young girls. I mean, Kamala Harris was just defeated in her bid to become president. We see female stars like Blake Lively speaking out about dealing with the allegations about sexism and sexist behavior on sets. What do you tell young girls about how to handle the current climate?
GORMAN: You are totally right in that so much of the news and headlines are disheartening. And it's something that I talk about with my mom and also my friends, who are also woman. Just in so many ways, you are being emotionally, politically beat up right now. But on the flip side of that, I never see a, quote, unquote, "failure" as a be end - end-all of the progress for gender equity.
If anything, I look at the, quote, unquote, "defeats" of Hillary Clinton, Kamala Harris as progression. And I put quotes on that failure not because I am contesting that they were defeated in their elections. I don't. I'm putting quotes on those because if you look statistically, when women run, when we lead, when we truth tell, we might not make it exactly to where we had envisioned or where we had planned, but there is an entirety of waves that follow behind us. I'm so excited to see all of the other women who were going to see running after Kamala - not because she won, but because she lost. And that's what drives us forward to know this cannot be where it ends.
DEGGANS: Now, I have heard that you have a mantra that you say to yourself before every public appearance.
GORMAN: You are deep-diving. Now you're getting in...
DEGGANS: I'm doing my research here...
GORMAN: (Laughter).
DEGGANS: ...Right?
GORMAN: Yeah.
DEGGANS: Now, do you think you can say it for us?
GORMAN: Absolutely. So, the mantra that I say is, I am the daughter of Black writers. We are descended from freedom fighters who broke their chains and changed the world. They call me.
DEGGANS: Now, how does that inspire you now? And are you hoping to pass a similar inspiration onto the girls that read this book?
GORMAN: It's definitely a kind of ethos that I carry with me in whatever I do. And when I write, for example, this book for young girls, the idea isn't for them to adopt to my mantra, adopt to my philosophy as their own, but to create their own ideas on their own terms and what it means for them. And I think my ultimate hope with this book is that it's a book not just for girls, but for their families, for their communities, for their allies. For young boys to read it, too, would be amazing. For gender nonbinary children to read it and to feel as if they're a part of a historical context of belonging where their voice has power. Because when any marginalized group, including girls who are on the rise, all of us are on the ascent with them.
DEGGANS: That is Amanda Gorman, poet and author with illustrator Loveis Wise of the new children's picture book "Girls On The Rise." Thanks for joining us, Amanda.
GORMAN: Thanks for having me.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
Amanda Gorman on the Greatest Lesson She’s Learned This Year
8 minute read
Amanda Gorman at an event in Los Angeles on Dec. 7.
Amanda Gorman at an event in Los Angeles on Dec. 7.Emma McIntyre—Variety/Getty Images
By Lucy FeldmanDecember 3, 2021 10:00 AM EST
Amanda Gorman has had quite a year. The former National Youth Poet Laureate stepped onto the stage at President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris’ Inauguration on Jan. 20 and seized the world’s attention with “The Hill We Climb,” a stirring piece about the promise of America. Soon came a recitation at the Super Bowl; a deal with a modeling agency; the release of her Inaugural poem in print; a co-hosting gig at the Met Gala alongside Billie Eilish, Timothée Chalamet and Naomi Osaka; and the publication of her debut picture book, Change Sings.
Amid it all, Gorman also completed a timely poetry collection, Call Us What We Carry, coming Dec. 7. In seven sections and through poems that often experiment with form, the book sets out to tell the story of the COVID-19 pandemic from a collective point of view, with Gorman exploring the grief, hope and wisdom that come from a period of shared tragedy. She’s keenly aware that the pandemic is still ongoing, and figuring out how to wrestle with that became “one of the greatest challenges.” She used the emotions she was feeling in real time—the grief, the anger, the confusion and the fear—to power her writing.
Here, Gorman speaks to TIME about her writing process, her choice to incorporate a personal moment of pain in her work and the most valuable lesson she’s learned from her unprecedented year.
In February, when you spoke with Michelle Obama for your TIME cover story, you talked about how girls of color are not treated like they have staying power and how you have to tell yourself to stand firm in the conviction that what you’re doing matters and will last. Looking back on the year and all of its many shades, has that feeling remained? Or evolved?
All of us have what I might call touch trees. They say when you’re lost in a forest, one thing you can do is to identify a tree that you will revisit as you wander and try to find your way back. For me, this year has really meant identifying my touch trees, nourishing them and revisiting them. One that I’ve returned to a lot has been that poetry matters. And that might sound kind of basic, but so much of my life was spent internalizing these ideas that, one, poets only counted as dead, old, white men, and, two, that the poetry done today by people who look like me couldn’t be as important—that it was cute, but not necessarily a craft or a calling. I try to remind myself that poetry is significant and always will be, and the work that I am doing has some bearing not only on my own life, but on the lives of others. So it’s important to keep going.
The world first met you through your poetry at the Inauguration, then you went on to do so many other things this year. How does it feel to be releasing this collection, coming back to your biggest calling?
It does feel a bit surreal, honestly, because for so many writing sessions it felt impossible. There was this voice in the back of my head telling me it wouldn’t be finished, that I had bitten off more than I could chew. I gave myself no small task, lyricizing a global pandemic experience. I’m just excited for people to see more of my poetry and different sides of my poetry that haven’t been seen before.
Read More: The 100 Must-Read Books of 2021
I want to talk about the dedication. It reads, “For all of us both hurting & healing who choose to carry on.” Can you tell me a little bit about the meaning there, and who you want to reach with this collection?
When I was writing the book, I knew I didn’t want to dedicate it to one specific person but rather to a collective, a community, which for me was really at the core of the book. I wanted it to not be about the singular but the plural, because so much of it is about what it means to go through a pandemic together.
On that note, you use the word “we,” rather than “I,” throughout the collection. Why did you make that choice and what are you hoping the reader will take from that?
When I first started writing the book, it was almost like the narrative voice had multiple personalities. One sentence would begin in the first person “I” and then move to the plural and all of a sudden it would be “we.” What that signified for me is that while I was tapping into an experience that I’ve personally had with the pandemic, at the same time, there were so many doors and bridges and openings to connect with other people—that that pain was my own, but it also didn’t solely belong to me. So my decision to use “we” as much as possible in the book was really to honor that. With something like a pandemic, the emphasis for me is the pan in that word, meaning all.
I was honestly surprised by how much the collection focused on the pandemic, just because, imagining you living through it and all the things you experienced while writing, if I put myself in your shoes it just sounds exhausting. I can imagine wanting a break from it.
Thank you for mentioning that. It was one of the greatest challenges. I felt that it was really important, while we were still in the fog of war, to take some time to look around and try to interrogate what [the pandemic] means. The fact that I was feeling exhausted, strained, scared were all realities that needed to be put into the book.
I want to talk about one poem in particular, “The Truth in One Nation,” which really stood out to me. It starts out describing an upsetting incident from this year, when you were followed home by a security guard who didn’t trust that you lived in your building. How did it feel to write about that event, and what did you discover in the writing process?
Yes, it was informed by that incident—but it was built on the foundation that that incident is actually not an isolated event but a pattern that I and other African Americans experience for a lifetime. This is why I wrote in the pluralistic voice: the problem wasn’t the incident itself. The problem was that it was expected. I was trying to rupture the normalcy by which we as Americans experience violence and death, the ways in which we have become desensitized to our own destruction. I wanted to revisit that pain and that terror, because it has to be known about again and again and again to keep our humanity. What happens when we allow ourselves to feel outraged, grievous and mourning over the loss of life in our country? Those types of emotions are what lead us to act.
Watch: TIME’s First-Ever ‘Voices of the Future’ Women’s Summit, Featuring Alicia Keys and Amanda Gorman in Conversation
What did you feel while writing the piece?
There was just deep grief, deep rage. In that section, rage and fury are something I talk about a lot. There was also kind of a heart-splitting love. There’s a line in there: “There is no love for or in this world / That doesn’t feel both bright & unbearable, / Uncarriable.” I was trying to capture what it feels like to love fully. In many ways, that opens you up to loss and vulnerability, but at the same time, it can also widen you for compassion and for change.
What’s your greatest lesson from the past year?
The importance, especially for women, to identify and listen to your inner voice. We all have these instincts that tend to process faster than the conscious mind might be able to. And as things go by so fast, I’m depending more and more on my instincts as a guiding principle. Maybe later I’m able to look back and say, “Oh, these were all the signifiers of that decision before I made it.” But in the moment, I have to be able to think [on a gut level] about what I want for myself and my career. That’s been helpful because as I say no to so many opportunities that come my way, I think of it as saying yes to my instincts and saying yes to my values.
This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
'Changing the world': Poet Amanda Gorman on new children's book
“It’s about what it means to be a young person in a generation that is going to end, and is currently changing the world,” the lauded poet said of her new book.
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Amanda Gorman says a ban on her poetry felt ‘like a gut punch’: Full interview
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Feb. 9, 2025, 12:09 PM EST
By Kristen Welker and Kaitlyn Schwanemann
Amanda Gorman made her voice heard in January 2021 while reading the poem for President Joe Biden’s inauguration. Four years later, she’s helping children find their voice with her new picture book, “Girls on the Rise.”
With illustrations from artist Loveis Wise, Gorman’s book serves to highlight “the importance of community and allyship,” she said in an interview with NBC News’ “Meet the Press.”
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“It’s about what it means to be a young person in a generation that is going to, and is currently changing the world,” she said.
The 32-page picture book features an original poem by Gorman about the power of girls, especially when they work together, accompanied by Wise’s artwork.
Gorman, 26, rose to literary stardom as a teen herself: In 2015, she published the poetry book “The One for Whom Food is Not Enough.” In 2017, she became the first winner of the National Youth Poet Laureate award. She read “The Hill We Climb,” a poem calling for unity and progress in the U.S. for Biden’s inauguration — making her the youngest-ever inaugural poet.
“I finished it on the night of Jan. 6, and so it’s important for me to just process my own emotions and thoughts as an American watching that violence against our democracy,” Gorman said.
“I had no idea it was going to reverberate and resonate in the way it did. … It was something historic and personal and meaningful and powerful, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world,” she said.
After the inauguration, Gorman published another book and co-hosted the Met Gala later that year. Now, she’s focused on building a better world for the next generation with a children’s book “that underscores the importance of community and allyship,” Gorman said.
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Gorman’s inaugural poem was restricted in a Florida school in 2023 after a parent filed a complaint against it. She said it was “a bit like a gut punch” when she found out her work would be restricted, but she fears for children’s right to read and learn in the context of the thousands of book bans in schools and libraries in recent years.
“These books that are being banned predominantly feature authors and characters of color, authors and characters of the LGBTQ community, and so we’re seeing entire identities erased from bookshelves,” Gorman said. “And when a child can’t see themselves represented in a story, they can’t dream of their own life, to actualize their own hopes.”
Gorman urged the importance of representation, adding that she felt immense pressure as a then 22-year-old poet in the national spotlight.
“I felt a lot of weight, because I knew if I failed or didn’t do an excellent job, it would” become an excuse to exclude young people from lofty ceremonies, she said. “And so you feel this aspiration to do well for yourself, but to be extraordinary for people who follow.”
Gorman, an activist herself, said she draws inspiration from orators and activists like Maya Angelou — also an inaugural poet in 1993 for President Bill Clinton — and Martin Luther King Jr. She said she may run for president when she’s of age in 2036.
“I hope my mark,” she said, “is being a wordsmith and a change maker who speaks in a language that allows our country to return to love, legacy and connection.”
Amanda Gorman, Youth Poet Laureate, has speech and auditory processing issues
By Tara Drinks
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Can you be a poet if you have speech and auditory processing issues? The nation’s first Youth Poet Laureate, Amanda Gorman, is living proof that you can.
Gorman has always had a love for words. However, the path to becoming a poet wasn’t easy.
Both Gorman and her twin sister were born prematurely. Their mother, Joan Wicks, feared they might have physical and developmental issues because of their birth complications.
Gorman was diagnosed with an auditory processing disorder in kindergarten. She also has speech articulation issues that make it difficult for her to pronounce certain words and sounds.
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Despite these challenges, her mom says she was inquisitive and a bit of an “overachiever” from a young age. “She had trouble expressing herself,” her mom says, “but she was always advanced in her thought.”
Gorman learned to read later than other kids. But once she knew how, she became an avid reader and writer.
She attended a private school where she received to meet her needs. At first, she wasn’t a fan of the help she was receiving.
“I'm so stubborn,” Gorman confesses. “I refused to use the accommodations. My mom pushed me to use the extra time on my tests.”
Over time, she grew to appreciate the extra help. And though her speech and auditory processing issues were always present, Amanda didn’t allow them to be a stumbling block in her life.
“My challenges were always, just for me, something that was reality,” she says. “But I knew I had strengths, too, especially with words and writing.”
As a young child, Gorman wrote her own stories. Then, in third grade, a teacher introduced Amanda to poetry and metaphor for the first time. Because of her communication issues, she was entranced by the power of poetry to express ideas.
Maya Angelou became an inspiration for her. After reading Angelou’s autobiography I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, she felt a special connection to the iconic Black poet.
“I felt like Maya was me growing up,” Gorman says. “She overcame years of not speaking up for herself, all for the love of poetry.”
Some kids with learning and thinking differences can have a hard time with the language of poetry. But Amanda did not. Poetry came naturally to her, and she was soon writing a lot of it.
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In high school, Gorman was encouraged by one of her mentors to apply for the new Youth Poet Laureate initiative in Los Angeles, where she lived. The program was started by Urban Word, a literary arts and youth development nonprofit.
The application required her to submit poems, and she sent in several touching on themes of social injustice. The poems struck a chord, and in 2014 Gorman was named Los Angeles Youth Poet Laureate. In 2015, she published her first book of poetry, The One for Whom Food Is Not Enough.
Last year, Gorman was named the first-ever National Youth Poet Laureate by Urban Word. (The honor is a youth version of the National Poet Laureate, which is selected by the Library of Congress. This year, a second National Youth Poet Laureate was also named.)
“Being a Youth Poet Laureate is similar to being a Poet Laureate,” she explains. “You bring your youth into the platform of poetry. You’re not just an ambassador for poetry. You’re making sure young voices are represented in the field of literature.”
Today, in addition to working on her poetry, Gorman is a student at Harvard.
Of Gorman’s many accomplishments, her mom says she’s most proud of her daughter’s strong sense of justice. Her mom sees her strong empathy for others, a trait she’s had from an early age.
“Amanda is clear with her ethical core, she stands up for herself and others,” mom Joan Wicks says. “It wasn’t always easy with her challenges, but she’s learned to build people up.”
Looking back, her mom marvels at what her daughter has been able to do.
“Every child has a gift, it just has to be discovered,” she says. “Where there’s a deficit, there’s a place where the child makes it up.”
Watch an interview with LeDerick Horne, a poet and activist with . And learn about authors with dyslexia.
Any opinions, views, information, and other content contained in blogs on Understood.org are the sole responsibility of the writer of the blog, and do not necessarily reflect the views, values, opinions, or beliefs of, and are not endorsed by, Understood.
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Amanda Gorman
https://www.theamandagorman.com
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NEW YORK, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 04: Amanda Gorman speaks on stage during Together Live at Town Hall on November 04, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images for Together Live)
Photo by Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images for Together Live
Amanda Gorman was born and raised in Los Angeles. She is the author of the poetry book The One for Whom Food Is Not Enough (2015). She attended New Roads in Santa Monica and Harvard University, where she graduated cum laude with a degree in sociology. Her art and activism focus on issues of oppression, feminism, race, and marginalization, as well as the African diaspora.
In 2014 Gorman was named the first Youth Poet Laureate of Los Angeles, and in 2017 was named the first US National Youth Poet Laureate. She has performed at many prominent venues, including the Obama White House, the Library of Congress, Lincoln Center, and on CBS This Morning. She has received a Genius Grant from OZY Media, as well as recognition from Scholastic Inc., YoungArts, the Glamour magazine College Women of the Year Awards, and the Webby Awards. She has written for the New York Times newsletter The Edit and penned the manifesto for Nike's 2020 Black History Month campaign. Gorman is the recipient of the Poets & Writers Barnes & Noble Writers for Writers Award, and is the youngest board member of 826 National, the largest youth writing network in the United States. She has two books forthcoming from Penguin Random House.
Gorman is the founder of a non-profit organization called One Pen One Page, which runs a youth writing and leadership program. In early 2021, she was selected by president elect Joe Biden to read her original poem, "The Hill We Climb" at his inauguration. She lives in Los Angeles.
Girls on the Rise
Amanda Gorman, illus. by Loveis Wise. Viking, $19.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-593-62418-0
"Who are we? We are girls on the rise," begins Gorman (Something, Someday) in validating lines that ring with tonal resolve. As the pages turn in this conceptual picture book, groups of individuals work in concert, lifting a banner and protesting as well as resting and playing. Digital artwork from Wise (Magnolia Flower) incorporates collage elements and embellishments in portraying the communal scenes. On one spread, figures pass dishes at a candlelit table, while other pages show youths helping one another in the face of fear, donning wings, and contemplating well-known luminaries including Frida Kahlo and Marsha P. Johnson. Lines that embrace intersectional girlhood ("Some of us go by she/ And some of us go by they") suggest both that "we are different people,/ Each of us a different shape and size,/ A different wonder and a different wise" and that "in our hearts, we are the same: We are a power, a movement,/ Pretty powerful." As characters sow seeds and nurture the earth, final pages reveal a lush, easeful portrait: "Because when one girl is one the rise,/ It means everyone else is, too." Characters are portrayed with various abilities, body types, and skin tones. Ages 4-8. (Jan.)
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"Girls on the Rise." Publishers Weekly, vol. 271, no. 37, 30 Sept. 2024, pp. 49+. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A811729301/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=99a2f3a0. Accessed 20 Apr. 2025.
Gorman, Amanda GIRLS ON THE RISE Viking (Children's None) $19.99 1, 7 ISBN: 9780593624180
Former National Youth Poet Laureate Gorman invites girls to raise their voices and make a difference.
"Today, we finally have a say," proclaims the first-person plural narration as three girls (one presents Black, another is brown-skinned, and the third is light-skinned) pass one another marshmallows on a stick around a campfire. In Wise's textured, almost three-dimensional illustrations, the trio traverse fantastical, often abstract landscapes, playing, demonstrating, eating, and even flying, while confident rhymes sing their praises and celebrate collective female victories. The phrase "LIBERATION. FREEDOM. RESPECT" appears on a protest sign that bookends their journey. Simple and accessible, the rhythmic visual storytelling presents an optimistic vision of young people working toward a better world. Sometimes family members or other diverse comrades surround the girls, emphasizing that power comes from community. Gorman is careful to specify that "some of us go byshe / And some of us go bythey." She affirms, too, that each person is "a different shape and size," though the art doesn't show much variation in body type. Characters also vary in ability. Real-life figures emerge as the girls dream of past luminaries such as author Octavia Butler and activist Marsha P. Johnson, along with present-day role models including poet and journalist Plestia Alaqad and athlete Sha'carri Richardson; silhouettes stand in for heroines as yet unknown. Imagining that "we are where change is going" is hopeful indeed.
Enthusiastic and direct, this paean has a lovely ring to it.(Picture book. 4-8)
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"Gorman, Amanda: GIRLS ON THE RISE." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Nov. 2024. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A815560519/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=eb92305f. Accessed 20 Apr. 2025.
Gorman, Amanda SOMETHING, SOMEDAY Viking (Children's None) $18.99 9, 26 ISBN: 9780593203255
In this collaboration from National Youth Poet Laureate Gorman and Caldecott Medalist Robinson, a small child finds a way to make a big impact on the community.
The Black-presenting youngster notices something wrong but is told it is "not a problem," that it "cannot be fixed," and that it is "too big for you." But the child is determined to try. Writing in second person, Gorman immerses readers in the experience, assuring them that they are not alone in their longings for a better world. The powerfully spare lines of text convey the concerns that can occupy the mind of a thoughtful person in a society full of problems and complacency. Robinson's signature simple, child-friendly collage art brings the text into concrete detail as the protagonist notices an oversized trash heap on the sidewalk and begins to work at cleaning it up. With help from diverse friends who are eager to make a difference, too, the child replaces the trash with a raised bed garden, which disappoints with withered seedlings before ultimately blooming into "something that work[s]," something to be proud of. Robinson's scenes are set against plenty of white space, giving text and art equal weight--both are sure to spark meaningful and productive conversations. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
An engaging offering whose hopeful message will resonate with readers of all ages. (Picture book. 4-8)
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"Gorman, Amanda: SOMETHING, SOMEDAY." Kirkus Reviews, 1 July 2023. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A754971901/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=a9200f47. Accessed 20 Apr. 2025.
Something, Someday. By Amanda Gorman. Illus. by Christian Robinson. Sept. 2023. 40p. Viking, $18.99 (9780593203255). PreS-Gr. 2.
This hopeful message from Gorman, the youngest presidential inaugural poet, is charmingly illustrated by Caldecott honoree Robinson's painted collage pieces. A young boy notices a heap of trash in his neighborhood and takes small steps to clean it up. He plants a garden in front of his home where trash used to be, persisting even when others discourage him. He invites friends to help out, and together they act with hope and encourage one another, even when things don't work out. The people in the neighborhood, varied in age, gender, ethnicity, and ability, nicely reflect the real world. The abundance of white space in each double-page spread emphasizes the text and illustrations, and while each is strong enough to stand alone, they combine seamlessly to create a compelling picture book. The front endpapers show a collection of trash, and the back endpapers show a beautiful garden, revealing the transformation that takes place when people partner to care for their community. This story would be a lovely choice for a garden or community-themed storytime and an exemplar for children's programming featuring poetry or collage.--Michelle Young
HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Award-winning Robinson and lauded poet Gorman are a perfect match.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2023 American Library Association
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Young, Michelle. "Something, Someday." Booklist, vol. 119, no. 21, 1 July 2023, p. 74. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A760091626/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=9ffd181c. Accessed 20 Apr. 2025.
Call Us What We Carry. By Amanda Gorman. 2021. 240p. Penguin, $24.99 (9780593465066). Gr. 9-12. 811.6.
Gorman's full-length poetry collection (originally titled, like her inauguration poem, The Hill We Climb), offers a stunning amalgamation of poems formatted in different styles to convey a message of sorrow, unity, and collective healing. Gorman aptly organizes her poems into seven sections, navigating such topics as the pandemic, racism, bigotry, and erasure. She uses a variety of styles, including concrete and visual poetry. Within these modes, Gorman eloquently uses the shapes of flags, whales, and buildings to outline the prevailing injustices happening in America and the fragility of the planet as a whole. She further goes on to commute poetry into the virtual age by producing poems that are formatted like text messages ("Sorry for the long text; / There are no small words in the mouth"). Another innovative use of poetic form is when Gorman intersects history with the present by superimposing her words on historical documents. Gorman lays out our pandemic world like a map, providing us hope and solidarity as lights to guide us. In a world filled with the crippling ebb and flow of the pandemic, Gorman offers hope and a push toward a collective society that values and fights for each other. Gorman's poetry operates as a perfect combination of elegy and call to action. This stunning collection belongs on every shelf.--Nashae Jones
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Jones, Nashae. "Call Us What We Carry." Booklist, vol. 118, no. 13, 1 Mar. 2022, p. 38. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A697176940/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=65554b75. Accessed 20 Apr. 2025.
Gorman, Amanda CALL US WHAT WE CARRY Viking (Fiction None) $19.99 12, 7 ISBN: 978-0-593-46506-6
Poems for teenagers and adults that cast a scrutinizing eye on United States history and current events while being hopeful about the future.
Gorman's opening poem, "Ship's Manifest," lays out her intentions: "This book is a message in a bottle. / This book is a letter. / This book does not let up. / This book is awake. / This book is a wake. / For what is a record but a reckoning?" Gorman delivers subtle turns of phrase alongside playful yet purposeful punning. The book tackles grief without succumbing to melancholy. It earnestly charts the challenges its collective "we" must navigate, including mask mandates and Covid-19 restrictions; social isolation; the environmental negligence of past generations; and the civil unrest following the killings of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd. A "dark girl" dreams and skillfully steers the collective "we" point of view in these poems, which marks a sea change in the United States and, subsequently, in contemporary American poetry. Mostly, the collective "we" point of view adheres. Occasionally it reads as monotonous or prosaic. But variation exists in the diversity of concrete or visual poems--shaped on the page to look like flags, whales, buildings, and text bubbles--and the intricate range of people, generational insights, and historical footnotes populating the pages. The collection overflows with teachable moments you can imagine quoted at graduation ceremonies and special events for years to come. It's not a book to be read in one sitting but to be savored and revisited. By the time readers are finished, they'll have discovered Lucille Clifton, Don Mee Choi, M. NourbeSe Philip, and a dizzying host of poets and thinkers that inspired these verses. The poems don't preen to prove their intelligence; rather, they're illuminated by it. Gorman's impulse to enlighten readers rather than exclude them is the book's guiding force. With generosity and care, Gorman takes the role of the poet seriously: "The poet transcends 'telling' or 'performing' a story & / instead remembers it, touches, tastes, traps its vastness."
An inspired anthem for the next generation--a remarkable poetry debut.
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"Gorman, Amanda: CALL US WHAT WE CARRY." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Jan. 2022. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A688199534/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=a62c5f80. Accessed 20 Apr. 2025.
''Novel writing was my original love, and I still hope to do it,'' says Amanda Gorman, whose new poetry collection, ''Call Us What We Carry,'' includes the poem she read at President Biden's inauguration. ''I just typically can finish writing a single poem faster than I can an entire narrative book!''
What books are on your night stand?
''Alexander Hamilton,'' by Ron Chernow, and ''Othello,'' by Shakespeare. I could read those every night.
What's the last great book you read?
''Postcolonial Love Poem,'' by Natalie Diaz.
Who are your favorite writers -- novelists, essayists, critics, memoirists, poets -- working today?
Oh wow, there's so many! Some are Ocean Vuong, Clint Smith, Madeline Miller, Tracy K. Smith, Jeremy O. Harris and Roxane Gay.
Describe your ideal reading experience (when, where, what, how).
A fireplace is crackling nearby, I have warm tea in my hands, a blanket over my lap and a thick, well-loved book in my hands.
When did you start reading poetry? What books made you fall in love with poetry?
I actually started writing poetry before I started reading it, mostly because at the time poetry wasn't something that was taught robustly in my classrooms. Around middle school a writing mentor introduced me to the writing of Sonia Sanchez, and gave me a book of her new and selected poems, ''Shake Loose My Skin.'' I fell in love with it and reread it every day. After that I got my hands on a copy of ''Angles of Ascent: A Norton Anthology of African American Poetry,'' and I just had this feeling of: Oh, these are my people.
Was there a book of poems or a poet in particular that inspired you to write?
These aren't poems, but I'd say ''The Bluest Eye,'' by Toni Morrison, and ''Dandelion Wine,'' by Ray Bradbury, really jump-started my interest in writing as a craft. When I came across these works as a young reader, I so deeply wanted to understand how these writers had arrived at these stories.
Which poets continue to inspire you in your work?
That's like asking me about the air I breathe. Just a handful are Gwendolyn Brooks, Lucille Clifton, Federico García Lorca, Rainer Maria Rilke, Octavia E. Butler and Maya Angelou.
Are there poets for whom you've gained greater appreciation over time?
Shakespeare, hands down, which might seem a bit elementary since he occupies such a center stage in literature. Yet for the longest time I was ambivalent, if not outright dubious, of Shakespeare, for that very same reason. He just felt like another ancient dead white guy that my teachers were trying to shove into my brain when I was desperate to read someone who looked like me. When I was in college, I had this moment of thinking: If you're going to close yourself off to an author, at least read them to understand why. I owed that to myself and to literature. So I pushed myself to take a course called Global Shakespeare, taught by Dr. Leah Whittington, and I fell in love. I think it was finally being able to read Shakespeare through a global, racial and gendered lens that made me see him anew.
If you were to write something besides poetry, what would it be?
Novels. Novel writing was my original love, and I still hope to do it. I just typically can finish writing a single poem faster than I can an entire narrative book!
What books do you find yourself returning to again and again?
All of them. If I read something once, I tend to reread it at least three times. There's some I return to for the craft they can teach me. For example, ''American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin,'' by Terrance Hayes, is a master class in the form; I'll reread ''Wade in the Water,'' by Tracy K. Smith, when I need a lesson on how to structure poems on the page; and I'll reread ''The World's Wife,'' by Carol Ann Duffy, when I need to get into the poetic head of a character who has been silenced.
What genres do you especially enjoy reading? And which do you avoid?
I love me some fantasy -- world building? Yes, please. I'm too much of a wimp to read horror, though I have been pleasantly surprised by thrillers like ''My Sister, the Serial Killer,'' by Oyinkan Braithwaite.
Do you count any books as guilty pleasures?
Not really. Maybe young adult novels, though I don't consider this guilty so much as underestimated. I love young adult novels. It's just a shame that for the longest time they weren't thought of as great works of literature, which they can be and are. I think we see that among the likes of ''The Hate U Give,'' ''The Giver,'' etc.
What's the last book you read that made you laugh?
Whenever I read the Percy Jackson series, I bust out a gut.
The last book you read that made you cry?
''A Promise to Remember: The Names Project Book of Letters.''
The last book you read that made you furious?
''Zong!,'' by M. NourbeSe Philip.
How do you organize your books?
By genre, and then by cover color within that genre. And then by some sporadic illogic that no one else could understand.
What books might we be surprised to find on your shelves?
''The Complete Guide to Watercolor.'' ''The Complete Idiot's Guide to Journalism.'' I'd reread that all the time growing up when I was trying to imagine how to pay bills as a writer.
What's the most interesting thing you've learned from a book recently?
In drawing, the edge of a shadow closest to the primary light source typically receives the least reflected light, so that area actually tends to be the darkest.
Who's your favorite fictional hero or heroine?
Hermione Granger.
Do books serve a moral function, in your view? How so?
Yes. Even if we don't set out for them to have a moral function, they do achieve a moral impact. For example, we generally think of reading as serving primarily an academic capacity. But we know reading also increases children's emotional intelligence. Books have the power to change how we see ourselves and others. The choice is ours to harness that potential.
You're throwing a literary dinner party. What three writers, living or dead, do you invite?
Shakespeare, Phillis Wheatley, Lin-Manuel Miranda.
What books are you embarrassed not to have read yet?
The ''Game of Thrones'' series.
What do you plan to read next?
Everything. But I'll start with finishing ''Four Hundred Souls,'' edited by Ibram X. Kendi and Keisha N. Blain, and starting ''A Ghost in the Throat,'' by Doireann Ní Ghríofa.
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"Amanda Gorman." The New York Times Book Review, 12 Dec. 2021, p. 8(L). Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A686394186/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=50bc6db1. Accessed 20 Apr. 2025.
Amanda Gorman, illus. by Loren Long. Viking, $18.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-593-20322-4
This rallying cry, the picture book debut of presidential inaugural poet Gorman, opens with a cross-legged Black child strumming a guitar: "I can hear change humming/ In its loudest, proudest song./I don't fear change coming,/ And so I sing along," the confident first-person rhyming narration begins. As the child walks past a vivid mural of Martin Luther King Jr., they encounter a light-skinned Jewish youth carrying a tuba. Outstretching a garbage bag, the first child entreats the second to join in cleaning up a park. The duo then continues through their city modeling serving actions: offering sustenance to a parent and child, delivering groceries to an elderly person, outstretching instruments to other children, and working toward community betterment. Subtle allusion to contemporary events ("Take a knee to make a stand") enrich the text. Acrylic and colored pencil illustrations by Long (Someone Builds the Dream) have a stunning depth of light and gradient, conveying a variously inclusive community working toward populating a symbolic mural of their own. This uplifting serenade will instill readers of any age with hope for the future and the initiative to improve it. Ages 4--8.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2021 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
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"Change Sings: A Children's Anthem." Publishers Weekly, vol. 268, no. 48, 24 Nov. 2021, p. 13. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A686559499/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=f14765b4. Accessed 20 Apr. 2025.
Gorman, Amanda CHANGE SINGS Viking (Children's None) $18.99 9, 21 ISBN: 978-0-593-20322-4
Great expectations of wordsmith Gorman are not disappointed in this “children’s anthem” to change.
In rhyming verses, a first-person narrator sings along, telling readers, “I can hear change coming / In its loudest, proudest song.” The poem does become a kind of song, as the child, a Black girl with glowing brown skin and textured hair, carries a guitar. As she joins with others, she hands them instruments, and together they change the world in large and small ways—delivering groceries and meals, cleaning up outdoor spaces, and making literal and figurative music with their deeds and their instruments. Long’s illustrations offer an interpretation of the anthem that expands upon the text and becomes its own rhythmic story. A quiet opening and a stunning second spread one could gaze at for days are followed by spreads that alternate between white space and full color, climaxing with a crescendo and then ending on a soft, steady note, when the narrator looks out to readers, offering them an invitation to carry the song on into the world. In rich language and vivid art, this hopeful celebration of the life-affirming power of change to ripple out into a better future is irresistible. Text and poetry work together to regulate a careful reading of this beautiful work. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
One to keep, to read, and to reread. (Picture book. 4-8)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2021 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
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"Gorman, Amanda: CHANGE SINGS." Kirkus Reviews, 15 July 2021. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A668237574/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=bb80c422. Accessed 20 Apr. 2025.