Amanda Gorman: inaugural poet lands prestigious job offer

Amanda Gorman, the inaugural poet who read “The Hill We Climb” at President Joe Biden's swearing-in, has a new job offer.

Morgan State University President David Wilson offered the 22-year-old Harvard graduate a role at the historically Black university, tweeting on Wednesday (20 January), “Ms. Gorman, I need you as our Poet-in-Residence at the National Treasure, @MorganStateU.

⁩“Outstanding!!!!! Consider this a job offer!"

When reached for comment by The Baltimore Sun, Wilson said that the offer was spontaneous but absolutely genuine.

“I was glued to the TV as I was watching her,” he said.

“I’m very serious about opening an opportunity for her to come here as a poet in residence. We have all kinds of authors on campus, and we think that being at Morgan for a year would give her an even deeper and wider perspective on the issues she is addressing. If she would accept this offer, I would move on it in a heartbeat.

“I will be watching my emails.”

Gorman has not yet responded, though, as The Sun pointed out, she is no doubt fielding a number of offers after her whirlwind week.

The youngest-ever inaugural poet earned rave reviews from across the media, academic, and entertainment fields after her reading at the inauguration, with everyone from Lin-Manuel Miranda, Hillary Clinton, and Oprah Winfrey singing Gorman's praises on social media.

Winfrey tweeted: “I have never been prouder to see another young woman rise! Brava Brava, @TheAmandaGorman! Maya Angelou is cheering – and so am I."

Gorman is also now a best-selling author; her two forthcoming books, The Hill We Climb and Change Sings: A Children's Anthem, are due for release on 21 September via Viking Books.

"What I really aspire to do in the poem is to be able to use my words to envision a way in which our country can still come together and can still heal," Gorman recently told The New York Times. "It’s doing that in a way that is not erasing or neglecting the harsh truths I think America needs to reconcile with.”

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