COMMUNITY: Amanda Gorman Finds ‘New Ways of Making Things Felt’
PBS Newshour via AllArts
01.22.2021
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“The power of poetry is everything for me. Poetry is – it’s an art form, but, to me, it’s also a weapon, it’s also an instrument. It’s the ability to make ideas that have been known, felt and said. And that’s a real, I think, type of duty for the poet. One of my favorite writers, Audre Lorde, has said, there’s no new ideas, just new ways of making them felt. And that’s what I try to do.” — Amanda Gorman
On Wednesday, December 20, 2021, at the inauguration of the 46th President of the United States Joe Biden, the youngest ever inaugural poet Amanda Gorman shared her poem “The Hill We Climb” with the world. We here at Daily Plinth HQ were not alone in being overwhelmed by this extraordinarily talented young woman who – like President Biden – overcame a speech impediment to reach the inaugural stage. To reference another of her favorites, Lin-Manuel Miranda – she blew us all away. She spoke with PBS Newshour’s Jeffrey Brown before the inauguration about her background, her interest in poetry, and her inspirations for the inaugural poem.
From PBS Newshour via AllArts:
The poet who will present a new work at the inauguration this week is quite accomplished, and yet only 22. She sounds many of Martin Luther King’s themes and follows in the footsteps of poets, including Robert Frost, Maya Angelou, Elizabeth Alexander, and Richard Blanco. Jeffrey Brown talked to Amanda Gorman as part of our ongoing arts and culture series, Canvas.
Cover image: Amanda Gorman ’20, the first Youth Poet Laureate of the United States, is pictured in Harvard Yard at Harvard University. Stephanie Mitchell/Harvard Staff Photographer
