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I have to interweave my poetry with purpose. For me, that purpose is to help people, and to shed a light on issues that have far too long been in the darkness.

Amanda Gorman

What’s really funny about being National Youth Poet Laureate is that not everyone even knows it exists.
AMANDA GORMAN

Existence Funny Poet Youth
What contributed to my writing early on is how my mom encouraged it. 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.
AMANDA GORMAN

Activity Crazy Encouragement Family Mom Myself Writing
Poetry and language are often at the heartbeat of movements for change.
AMANDA GORMAN

Change Language Poetry
When you are learning through poetry how to speak English, it lends to a great understanding of sound, of pitch, of pronunciation, so I think of my speech impediment not as a weakness or a disability, but as one of my greatest strengths.
AMANDA GORMAN

Greatness Learning Poetry Sound Strength Thinking Understand Weakness Yourself
It was so incredible meeting Lady Gaga. I mean I’m gaga for Gaga, literally. We kind of just each flew to each other like magnets after the ceremony ended and we were both just crying and hugging.
AMANDA GORMAN

Cry Each Other End Hug Kind Myself
If a woman doesn’t give herself permission, who will?
AMANDA GORMAN

Herself Willing Woman
We’ve learned that quiet isn’t always peace and the norms and notions of what just is, isn’t always justice.
AMANDA GORMAN

Justice Learning Peace Quiet
Writing wasn’t just a form of expression. It was a form of pathology by embarking on spoken word over and over and over again and reciting my poems.
AMANDA GORMAN

Expression Myself Poem Word Writing
I did a lot of sitting back and thinking about what I wanted for myself and what I wanted for my country: more unity, more support for the arts and more opportunities for young writers from marginalized groups.
AMANDA GORMAN

Art Myself Opportunity Support Thinking Unity Writing Young
But as for the future, I foresee a world which is more creative, more open, more loving, more ecologically friendly, more honest about its history and progress, and I think a lot of those contributions will be made by young people.
AMANDA GORMAN

Creation Friendship Future History Honesty Love People Thinking Young
I think it made me all that much stronger of a writer when you have to teach yourself how to say words from scratch.
AMANDA GORMAN

Myself Strong Teaching Thinking Word Writing Yourself
That’s kind of the challenging thing about writing an inaugural poem. You’re speaking to everyone, but you don’t also want to speak for everyone.
AMANDA GORMAN

Challenge Kind Talk Yourself
I love Black poets. I love that as a Black girl, I get to participate in that legacy. So that’s Yusef Komunyakaa, Sonia Sanchez, Tracy K. Smith, Phillis Wheatley.
AMANDA GORMAN

Black Love Myself Poet
What a day. What a life. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you
AMANDA GORMAN

Gratitude Life Thankful
I think we run into issues when our online brands are not rooted in who we are, and I think we need to have explicit discussions with ourselves about who we want to be, what we want to represent, and how we want to express that.
AMANDA GORMAN

Expression Issues Myself Need Ourselves Run Thinking
Whenever I listen to songs, I rewrite them in my head.
AMANDA GORMAN

Listening Myself Song

I have to interweave my poetry with purpose. For me, that purpose is to help people, and to shed a light on issues that have far too long been in the darkness.

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I have to interweave my poetry with purpose. For me, that purpose is to help people, and to shed a light on issues that have far too long been in the darkness.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

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