It’s hard for Amanda Gorman to describe what 2021 has been like for her. The National Youth Poet Laureate and Harvard graduate, who first captivated the world at Joe Biden’s inauguration, encapsulates her year as “living several lifetimes in a few months.”
The 23-year-old became an overnight sensation (and fashion influencer) after her history-making reading of “The Hill We Climb” at the inauguration on January 20. Weeks later, Gorman took her words to the Super Bowl, not traditionally a literary event, reading “Chorus of the Captains” at the pregame ceremony. Her poem honored the heroes of the pandemic and contemplated the country’s losses.
What followed was a year of milestones that Gorman couldn’t have imagined, from a show-stopping Vogue cover to co-chairing the 2021 Met Gala, in addition to publishing three number-one bestselling books in 11 months.
