Everything You Need to Know About the Youngest Ever Inaugural Poet Amanda Gorman
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
22-year-old Amanda Gorman, was the breakout star at President Biden's inauguration. Since then she has hit the ground running with modeling contracts and hosting duties and won't be slowing down anytime soon. Here are all the facts on the trailblazing poet and why she won't be going anywhere anytime soon.
1. She's from Los Angeles. Amanda was raised in LA by her mother, a middle school teacher. Amanda spoke to the New York Times back in 2018 about how her mother helped foster her love for writing.
"What contributed to my writing early on is how my mom encouraged it," she said. "She kept the TV off because she wanted my siblings and I to be engaged and active. So we made forts, put on plays, musicals, and I wrote like crazy."
2. In 2014 she was named the Inaugural LA Youth Poet Laureate. She was just 16 when she received the honor.
3. She's a graduate of Harvard University. Amanda majored in sociology and graduated cum laude.
4. She was the first-ever National Youth Port Laureate. At the age of 19, while studying at Harvard, she was named the National Youth Port Laureate the first to receive the title.
5. She was Joe Biden's inaugural poet. On January 20, 2021, Amanda read her original poem, "The Hill We Climb" at President Biden's inauguration. She became the youngest inaugural poet in history and her inspiring words quickly went viral.
6. She signed a modeling contract with IMG. In the days following her inaugural poem she signed a deal with IMG Models, which represents supermodels like Kate Moss and Gisele Bündchen. Along with representing some of the biggest names in fashion IMG represents a variety of figures including Grace Vanderwaal and Selena Gomez, as well as musicians, actors and sport stars like Naomi Osaka.
7. She has a poetry collection and picture book coming out. Her debut poetry collection, The Hill We Climb, will be available in September and, yes, it will include her inaugural poem. On the same day, her picture book, Change Sings, which includes illustrations by Loren Long, will also become available.
8. She will be hosting this year's Met Gala alongside Timothée Chalamet, Billie Eilish and tennis pro Naomi Osaka. As a co-chair Amanda will be will help host and plan the event alongside Wintour and this year's honorary chairs, designer Tom Ford and Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri.
You Might Also Like
