Young, brilliant, and talented, Amanda Gorman is taking the world by storm. The 22-year-old poet, writer, and activist was born with special needs, but Gorman did not let that stop her from setting massive goals and achieving them and becoming the youngest inaugural poet ever in the United States.
Here’ re some cool facts about her:
- Amanda has a twin sister, and they were born prematurely. Their mother Joan Wicks always feared that the twins might have developmental issues because of their birth complications. As she feared, Gorman was later diagnosed with an auditory processing disorder in kindergarten, and she also faced speech articulation issues that made it difficult for her to pronounce certain words and sounds.
- In 2014, Gorman was named Los Angeles Youth Poet Laureate, and in 2015 her first book of poetry – “The One for Whom Food is not Enough” was published.
- Gorman was named the first-ever National Youth Poet Laureate by Urban Word. This honor is the youth version of the National Poet Laureate.
- Maya Angelou has been one of Gorman’s biggest inspirations, and she truly followed in her footsteps by performing at a presidential inauguration. Reminding you – Angelou performed “On the Pulse of the Morning” at Bill Clinton’s 1993 inauguration. Gorman put on a ring with a caged bird as a homage to Angelou’s famous work “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” during inauguration. And interestingly, the ring was gifted by Oprah Winfrey, another Gorman’s hero.
- She founded a non-profit called “One Pen, One Page” to empower youth to use their voices to eliminate inequality through education.
- Gorman is going to perform in Superbowl LV honoring the honorary captains – Trimaine Davis, an educator, Suzie Dorner, a nurse manager; and James Martin, a veteran – leaders recognized by their communities during the COVID-19 pandemic. Do not forget to catch her new poem on Sunday, February 7, 2021.
- In 2017, Gorman has performed her poem “The Gathering Place” at the UN’s Social Good Summit.
- She plans to run for US President in 2036. Hillary Clinton confirmed that Gorman personally promised her that she will run for the most powerful position on the planet once she is eligible.
- The fashion industry is relying heavily on this Harvard graduate. Vogue invited readers in 2019 to meet the rising poet who stole the show at Milan Fashion week. In early 2020, Gorman posed in her now-famous canary yellow coat for a Prada campaign and has also appeared in ads for Helnut Lang.
- IMG Models is going to represent her for fashion and beauty endorsements as they announced recently. This agency is known to have represented supermodels including Alek Wek, Paloma Elsesser, Joan Smalls, Naomi Osaka and many others.