Gorman, Amanda, 1998-

Amanda Gorman (born March 7, 1998) is an American poet and activist from Los Angeles, California. Gorman's work focuses on issues of oppression, feminism, race, and marginalization, as well as the African diaspora.

Gorman published the poetry book The One for Whom Food Is Not Enough in 2015. In 2017, Gorman became the United States of America's first National Youth Poet Laureate.

She became the youngest poet to read at a presidential inauguration, reciting her poem "The Hill We Climb" at the inauguration of Joe Biden on January 20, 2021.


Gorman is a Los Angeles native who was raised by her mother, a teacher named Joan Wicks, with her two siblings. She has a twin sister, Gabrielle, who is an activist. Gorman has said she grew up in an environment with limited television access. She had a speech impediment as a child. She has described her young self as a "weird child" who enjoyed reading and writing and was encouraged by her mother. Gorman has said she has an auditory processing disorder and is hypersensitive to sound.

Gorman attended New Roads School, a private school in Santa Monica, for grades K-12, and studied sociology at Harvard College. While at Harvard, she became the first person to be named National Youth Poet Laureate in April 2017, a national program managed by Urban Word NYC in conjunction with the Library of Congress. She was chosen from five finalists.

Gorman said she was inspired to become a youth delegate for the United Nations in 2013 after watching a speech by Pakistani Nobel Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai. Gorman was chosen as the youth poet laureate of Los Angeles in 2014. She published the poetry book The One for Whom Food Is Not Enough in 2015.

Gorman is the founder of the nonprofit organization One Pen One Page, which runs a youth writing and leadership program. In 2017, she became the first youth poet to open the literary season for the Library of Congress, and she has read her poetry on MTV. The Morgan Library and Museum acquired her poem “In This Place (An American Lyric)” and displayed it in 2018 near works by Elizabeth Bishop. In 2017, Gorman became the first author to be featured on XQ Institute's Book of the Month, a monthly giveaway to share inspiring Gen Z’s favorite books. She wrote a tribute to black athletes for Nike and has a book deal with Viking Children's Books to write two children's picture books.

In 2017, Gorman said she wants to run for president in 2036.

Gorman's art and activism focus on issues of oppression, feminism, race, and marginalization, as well as the African diaspora.

Gorman recited her poem "The Hill We Climb" at Joe Biden's inauguration on January 20, 2021 as the youngest poet to read at a presidential inauguration. Her preparation included studying orators such as Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Winston Churchill. After January 6, 2021, she amended her poem's wording to address the storming of the United States Capitol.