Gorman's own future is bright: She has two books publishing soon, including the children's book "Change Sings" due out in September. "Poetry is typically the touchstone that we go back to when we have to remind ourselves of the history that we stand on, and the future that we stand for." "Now more than ever, the United States needs an inaugural poem," Gorman said. To prepare for the event Wednesday, she spoke to two previous inauguration poets, Elizabeth Alexander and Richard Blanco, for advice.īlanco offered comforting words, Gorman told The New York Times, when he said that "it's just not one of us up there, it's a representation of American poetry." Gorman joined the likes of Maya Angelou and Robert Frost in the small group of poets who've been invited to mark a presidential inauguration. ![]() "It was like, if I try to climb this mountain all at once, I'm just going to pass out." "I had this huge thing, probably one of the most important things I'll ever do in my career," she said in an interview with The New York Times. In researching for her work, Gorman drew inspiration from the speeches of American leaders during other historic times of division, including Abraham Lincoln and the Rev. Her poem, "The Hill We Climb," will align with the theme of the swearing-in ceremony of calling for national unity during a time of unprecedented illness, death and political division in the country. 6, when pro-Trump rioters stormed the Capitol Building. ![]() Gorman was invited to recite at the inauguration at the request of First Lady Jill Biden, who had seen the young poet give a reading at the Library of Congress, and suggested in late December she read something at the presidential ceremony.įor the past few weeks, Gorman wrote a few lines a day, and she finished writing late into the night of Jan. By age 16, she was named the Youth Poet Laureate of Los Angeles, and a few years later while studying sociology at Harvard, she became the first National Youth Poet Laureate.
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