On Jan. 20, we reached a milestone long overdue.
No American so young had ever been called upon to deliver a poem at a presidential inauguration until that cold winter morning in Washington, D.C. And yet, by noon on that historic day, who among us didn’t know Amanda Gorman? By the bold and brazen light of her inaugural poem and the sound of her verse, our country’s path to unity began.
Gorman arrived on the national stage beaming with her remarkable blend of righteous courage, shared grief and defiant joy, poised at the very helm of a citizenship built by her enslaved ancestors yet not created for them or for her, herself a vessel carrying us back to the source and new horizons both.
Wikimedia Commons
The great Bartholdi statue, “Liberty Enlightening the World,” was a gift from France to the American people in 1885.
Though in truth it never left us – etched as it has remained in so many of our hearts, and in the heart of our nation, as with Emma Lazarus’ sonnet cast in bronze at the feet of the Statue of Liberty – poetry was back, and with monumental force returned to its foundational place in the building and rebuilding of the nation, restored by a remarkable lineage of poets, some laureate and inaugural like Amanda, others the private champions of the form’s significance in our daily lives – teachers of courage all.
NPS.org
Bronze plaque with sonnet
In what some have called a literary and cultural renaissance, there has been an upsurge in poetry book sales and a general interest in verse in recent years. And not just among those more-or-less lonesome courage teachers, but among millions of readers nationwide. The evidence of the resurgence is mounting.
According to surveys conducted by NPR and a few official industry counts, that uptick in sales has been propelled by a youthful and politically conscious readership that a poet like Gorman represents. Historical circumstance and the attendant rise of social media are twin forces that have conspired to elevate poetry in all its forms.
Anecdotal evidence recently collected from local bookstores and online booksellers alike also confirms the stunning upsurge for poetry overall, and for Gorman’s incandescent brand of public truth-telling, reverence and grace in particular.
A “frenzy” of poetry – to borrow a lyrical phrase from celebrated poet Gregory Orr – has certainly gripped the nation, and it is no surprise.
On Jan. 6, precisely two weeks before Gorman recited her astonishing poem to the limited but transfixed crowd assembled on the National Mall – and a virtual audience numbering in the tens, if not hundreds, of millions – a shocking insurrection took over the U.S. Capitol. The ensuing highly televised violence struck like a bolt of lightning to the hearts of a nation already beset by the millenarian divisions and accumulated injustices with which it seems to be finally reckoning.
As rioters broke into the halls of Congress, weapons mixing with picket signs and more than a few errant polemic flags with a sordid history, Gorman finished her poem with a characteristically unflinching look at the violence that was unfolding, and the legacy it represents:
“We’ve seen a force that would shatter our nation rather than share it,
Would destroy our country if it meant delaying democracy.
And this effort very nearly succeeded.
But while democracy can be periodically delayed,
It can never be permanently defeated.”
Like other inaugural poets before her, Gorman called for unity, but one that demands the searing revelations proffered by light of truth, redemption and overcoming – unity with hope and courage combined. So impactful was this poetic brew that within minutes of its reading, it had already gone viral.
In the following days and weeks Gorman was contacted by media outlets across the country, and was profiled in the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times and The New Yorker, to name a few, praised by former President Barack Obama and interviewed by his wife, former first lady Michelle Obama.
At 22, Gorman is the youngest inaugural poet ever in the United States. It’s far from the first time she’s been awarded honors and accolades that belie her youth. At 16 she became the Youth Poet Laureate of Los Angeles, where she was raised among books by her mother.
A few years later, when she was named the country’s first National Youth Poet Laureate, the buzz around Gorman truly began to hum in earnest, as she grabbed the media’s attention and landed profiles in outlets such as The Project for Girls, an offshoot of creative networking think tank The Project for Women.
As an inaugural poet, she joins a select group of lyric heroes entrusted with addressing the highest office in the land, poets like Elizabeth Alexander, Miller Williams, Maya Angelou and Miami’s own Richard Blanco, all tasked with inspiring hope despite differences and divisions, violence and unrest, and now, a global pandemic.
Pablo Martinez Monsivais
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Poet Richard Blanco said that appearing at President Obama's second inauguration made him feel as if, for the first time, he "had a place at the American table." AP Photo
Her inaugural poem reading, and its effects on the state of poetry, which is in so many ways the state of the union itself, is the culmination of more than a decade of work for Gorman. It is the capstone of a fertile and ferocious creative period that has propelled her, and poetry alongside, from a relatively mysterious rarity to an international phenom whose success both defies the limits imposed by our history and pronounces the arrival of another, more just and equitable world.
It is also, along with the resurgence of interest in the form, a measure of the profound longings and bewilderment of our nation at this historical juncture – a latent and ever-pronounced desire to be seen, heard, recognized, celebrated and consoled.
“The way we respond to poetry is visceral,” said Blanco, another poet who has had an outsized impact on the national discourse. “We turn to poetry in moments of unfathomable joy, deep grief, intense emotion. It is no coincidence that we turn to poetry in weddings, funerals and of course, inaugurations. Poets are great emotional educators, soft soldiers of truth and justice on the frontlines of historic change. I think that may be one reason why poetry is resonating so deeply with so many people right now.”
But you don’t need to be an inaugural poet, tenured poetry expert or Ph.D. in literature to know that something is happening with the creation and reception of poetry in America. You only need to look at your local bookstore.
A tour of the city’s bookstores, including the extensive poetry sections of local legend Books & Books as well as mainstream outlets like Barnes & Noble – both feature poets on its bestseller shelves – shows the proof is very much in the poetry.
“We’ve seen a remarkable flood of pre-orders of [Gorman’s] upcoming books, and we have a book of poems on the paperback bestsellers shelf. Certainly not the usual,” said a clerk at the former.
Viking Books for Young Readers
In September, Amanda Gorman will publish her first children’s book, “Change Sings: A Children's Anthem.”
It is a reality mirrored and advanced by the city’s cultural literary organizations like Miami Book Fair, which has long boasted a robust program of diverse poetic offerings, including the recently founded Speak Up program for teens, which pairs the city’s young and aspiring writers with leading teaching artists of performance poetry and spoken word, traditions central to Gorman’s poetic and emotional education, and precisely the genres most apt to capture the poetic zeitgeist led by our nation’s youth. Free for teens aged 13-19, you can learn more about Speak Up at miamibookfair.com/speakup.
One million copies of Gorman’s upcoming book, “The Hill We Climb: An Inaugural Poem for the Country,” are being printed for release on March 16. Another million copies of “The Hill We Climb and Other Poems” are being printed by Penguin Random House for release in late September. And the publishing house also will print one million copies of Gorman’s first picture book, “Change Sings: A Children’s Anthem.”
On April 1, the annual monthlong O, Miami Poetry Festival returns. The goal is for every single person in Miami-Dade County to discover a poem they can connect with, and the event offers numerous opportunities for writing and community engagement. Find out how to participate at OMiami.org.
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An image of a pre-pandemic O' Miami Poetry Festival event.