Interest continues to grow in inaugural poet Amanda Gorman
Eric and Tess from Pasadena, Calif., enter the Skylight Book store, decorated with a poster of American poet Amanda Gorman, in Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles Monday, Jan. 25, 2021. Public health officials said Monday that the state will return to a system of county-by-county restrictions intended to stem the spread of the virus. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)NEW YORK โ Within hours of Amanda Gorman's reading of the inaugural poem last week, bookstores were hearing from their customers. Gorman, who at 17 became the country's National Youth Poet Laureate, is a longtime Los Angeles resident who credits poetry with helping her work on a speech impediment. Gorman is by far the youngest of the poets to read at presidential inaugurations since Robert Frost was invited to John F. Kennedy's in 1961.
WATCH: Poet Amanda Gorman recites โThe Hill We Climbโ at inauguration of President Joe Biden
The 22-year-old Gorman referenced everything from Biblical scripture to โHamilton,โ and at times echoed the oratory of John F. Kennedy and the Rev. Did you catch the 2 @HamiltonMusical references in the inaugural poem? โThat day gave me a second wave of energy to finish the poem,โ Gorman told the AP. Penguin Young Readers announced Wednesday that โThe Hill We Climbโ will be published in a special edition this spring. Two other books come out in September โ the illustrated โChange Singsโ and a volume of her inaugural poem and other works.
Poet Amanda Gorman, 22, will read at Biden inaugural
The country's next inaugural poet is an old pro at ceremonial occasions and she's only 22. (Kelia Anne/Sun Literary Arts via AP)NEW YORK โ At age 22, poet Amanda Gorman, chosen to read at the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden, already has a history of writing for official occasions. Gorman is the youngest inaugural poet in memory, and she has made news before. In 2014, she was named the first Youth Poet Laureate of Los Angeles, and three years later she became the country's first National Youth Poet Laureate. She is calling her inaugural poem โThe Hill We Climbโ while otherwise declining to preview any lines.