At age 22, Amanda Gorman joins a small group of poets recruited for a presidential inauguration, including Robert Frost, Maya Angelou, Miller Williams, Elizabeth Alexander and Richard Blanco.
Amanda Gorman will recite The Hill We Climb, a poem about national unity, at President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration ceremony. Image via Twitter
About two weeks ago, poet Amanda Gorman struggled to finish a new work called The Hill We Climb. She felt exhausted and feared that she was not up to the monumental task she faced: to write a poem on national unity to be recited at the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden.
« Me had this big thing, probably one of the most important things I’ll ever do in my career, « she said in an interview. « It was like passing out trying to climb this mountain all at once. »
Gorman managed to write a few lines a day and was roughly halfway through the poem on January 6th when pro-Trump rioters stormed the halls of Congress, some with guns and Confederate flags. She stayed up late at night finishing the poem and adding verses about the apocalyptic scene that played out at the Capitol that day: At 22, Gorman will be the youngest inaugural poet in America. She joins a small group of poets enlisted to celebrate an inauguration of the President, including Robert Frost, Maya Angelou, Miller Williams, Elizabeth Alexander, and Richard Blanco.
Amanda Gorman’s poem at the opening recitation is coming to a pivotal moment in American history, amid pandemic, political violence, and partisan division. Kelia Anne © 2020 The New York Times
But none of her predecessors faced the challenge Gorman poses. She set out to write a poem that would instill hope and foster a sense of collective intent at a moment when Americans are struck by a deadly pandemic, political violence, and partisan division.
« In my poem I am not going to gloss over what we have seen in the last few weeks and, as I may say, in the last few years. But what I really strive for in the poem is to be able to use my words to imagine a way where our land can still come together and still heal, « she said. » It does so in a way that doesn’t obliterate or neglect the harsh truths that I believe America needs to reconcile with. «
Falling in love with poetry at a young age, Gorman quickly distinguished himself as an up-and-coming talent. Growing up in Los Angeles, where her mother teaches middle school, she wrote in magazines in the playground In the years she was named the Los Angeles Youth Poet Laureate. A few years later, while studying sociology at Harvard, she became the National Youth Poet Laureate, the first person to hold this position.
In a year that began with an important milestone, with her appearance at the inauguration, Gorman will reach a much larger audience with her work. In September, Viking Books for Young Readers will be releasing their first collection of poems, The Hill We Climb, aimed at young and adult readers, which will include the opening poem. Her debut picture book Change Sings, illustrated by Loren Long, comes out the same day.
Despite being in the limelight, she has never performed her work for a television audience likely to be tens of millions, as a celebrity part a cast that includes Lady Gaga and Jennifer Lopez.
Biden’s opening committee contacted Gorman late last month. During a video call, she learned that Jill Biden had seen a reading she was giving at the Library of Congress and suggested that Gorman read something at the dedication. She hadn’t been given any explicit guidelines on how to write, she said.
« They didn’t want to set any guardrails for me at all, » she said. “The theme for the inauguration in its entirety is America United. When I heard that this was their vision, it was very easy for me to say, great, I wanted to write about this in my poem about America united over a new chapter in our country. «
At the same time, Gorman felt the poem it took to acknowledge the dark chapter in American history that we are living through.
» We have to face these realities if we are to move forward. This is also an important one Touchstone of the poem, « she said. « There is room for sadness and horror and hope and unity, and I also hope that there is a touch of joy in the poem because I think we have a lot to celebrate at this inauguration. »
Gorman began the process, as always, with research. She was inspired by the speeches of American leaders trying to bring citizens together during times of intense division, including Abraham Lincoln and Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. She also spoke to two of the previous initiatory poets, Blanco and Alexander.
As she asked Alexander for advice, « she simply said to me: » The poem has already been written, it is already finished. Now it’s only up to you to bring it to life as best you can, ”Gorman said.
To prepare for the January 20th event, she practiced reading the poem over and over until she was sure is that she won’t trip over the words. « It takes a lot of energy and work for me, » she said. « The writing process is its own agonizing form, but as someone with speech impairment, speaking in front of millions of people presents its own kind of terror. » Gorman comforts himself with something Blanco told her when they spoke when he said « It’s just not one of us up there, it’s a representation of American poetry. »
« The United States needs an opening poem more than ever, » said Gorman. « Poetry is usually the touchstone we turn to when we need to remember the history we stand on and the future we stand for. »
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January 20, 2021 12:23:38 PM
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Ref: https://www.firstpost.com
