5 Interesting Facts about Amanda Gorman

The youngest poet to recite a poem at a presidential inauguration, and the only poet to ever recite a poem at a Superbowl game, Amanda Gorman is a force to be reckoned with. At the young age of 22, she moved and captivated an entire nation with her original poem, The Hill We Climb, during US President Joe Biden’s Inauguration; a poem describing a future of hope, unity, and collaboration. Born and raised in Los Angeles, her art and activism are focused on themes of social justice, feminism, marginalization, and the African diaspora. Here are 5 interesting facts about Amanda Gorman.

1) Amanda Gorman is America’s first National Youth Poet Laureate

In 2017, Gorman was appointed America’s first National Youth Poet Laureate, a title awarded to someone who demonstrates skill in the arts, particularly in poetry and/or spoken word. It was through her performance at the Library of Congress that she was noticed by Dr. Jill Biden, who years later would ask her to write and perform an original poem at Joe Biden’s inauguration.

2) Amanda Gorman had a speech impediment growing up

Growing up, Gorman had an auditory processing disorder where she had difficulties saying certain sounds, like r. Through hard work and perseverance, she overcame her speech impediment while going to speech therapy and practicing her r’s by singing Hamilton’s “Aaron Burr, Sir” (a song littered with r words). What is incredible is that Gorman views her speech impediment not as a weakness, but as a strength and a gift that allowed her to become a better writer. Now that she is performing her own poems on stage, she takes with her an appreciation and understanding of the complexity of sound, pronunciation, and emphasis.

3) Her advice for other women of colour is to think big picture

For many black females who have stumbled into the spotlight like herself, Gorman’s advice is to:

“…crown yourself with the belief that what [you’re] about and what [you’re] here for is way beyond this moment”.

Too often, women of color who find fame are treated as a one hit wonder; her advice is a powerful one of self- assurance and it’s a reminder that we can be and are more than just a defined moment in time.

4) She founded her own non-profit organization called One Pen One Page

Amanda Gorman founded One Pen One Page, a non-profit organization that provides creative writing programming and publishing opportunities to underserved youth. Following in the footsteps of her mother who is an English teacher, she started teaching some creative writing workshops at her mom’s school, and later received funding to expand the program.

5) Amanda is very fashionable

Amanda Gorman doesn’t just know how to express herself with words, she also expresses herself through her wardrobe and fashion. She uses fashion as a way of self-expression and to pay homage to her black heritage, having previously said “my body is a canvas and fashion is the paint”. At the Inauguration, she fashionably wore a bright yellow Prada coat (paying homage to Dr. Jill Biden), a striking red Prada satin headband, and jewelry gifted by Oprah Winfrey. The ring she wore was crafted in the shape of a caged bird, a nod to Maya Angelou’s work.