CONTENTS INAUGURAL POET 4 YOUNG WRITER 6 YOUTH POET LAUREATE 8 HARVARD 10 INAUGURATION INVITATION 14 THE HILL WE CLIMB 18 LAUNCH TO FAME 22 SUPER BOWL POET 24 THE FUTURE IS GORMAN 26 TIMELINE 28 GLOSSARY 30 ONLINE RESOURCES 31 INDEX 32
CHAPTER 1 INAUGURAL POET In January 2021 Amanda Gorman became the youngest poet to perform at a US presidential inauguration In April 2017 she had become the first National Youth Poet Laureate Before that she was the first Youth Poet Laureate of Los Angeles California Growing up Gorman had a speech impediment It made certain sounds difficult for her to pronounce Because of her trouble speaking Gorman expressed herself through writing In time she became a poet Gorman had only recently graduated from college when she spoke at the presidential inauguration There she delivered a moving poem about the nation overcoming challenges Gorman’s performance launched her into the national spotlight The future was bright for this young poet I don’t think I would have been able to write that inauguration poem if I hadn’t lived every day of my life as if that was the place I was going to get 4
Gorman loves to express herself through fashion She said Through my fashion and the way I wear my hair I can pay homage to my Black heritage to my sociopolitical beliefs and my personality
