Amanda Gorman

Poet Amanda Gorman rose instantly to worldwide fame when she recited her poem The Hill We Climb at the inauguration of Joe Biden as President of the United States in 2021. Born in Los Angeles in 1998, she began writing at an early age and graduated with honors from Harvard University in 2020, completing her studies with a degree in sociology. By that point in her career, however, she had already published her first book: the poetry collection The One for Whom Food Is Not Enough appeared in 2015, and in 2017 she was named the first National Youth Poet Laureate of the United States. The print edition of The Hill We Climb quickly reached one million copies, became a bestseller, and won the Goodreads Choice Award. The audiobook version was likewise successful, since Gorman’s art is deeply rooted in recitation and the spoken word. Her most recent poetry collection, Call Us What We Carry, was published in 2021. Amanda Gorman has opened the literary season at the Library of Congress in Washington, D. C., presented her work at White House events, appeared at Lincoln Center, and recited her poem Chorus of the Captains at the Super Bowl. From the very beginning of her career, she has been an activist, fighting racism and oppression and advocating for social justice and gender equality. Educational projects are another important focus of her work. In 2016 she founded One Pen One Page, a program that offers young people free instruction in creative writing; her children’s book Change Sings was published in 2021, followed in 2023 by Something, Someday, a picture book with texts for children ages four to eight. She also appears regularly in schools and at other educational institutions. Amanda Gorman has written for The New York Times and The Huffington Post. She commands a substantial media presence and has appeared on the covers of Vogue and Time magazine, which included her on its “100 Next” list.

July 2026