Poet who stole Biden inauguration show

With her powerful words and composed delivery, Amanda Gorman pulled focus at the Biden inauguration - and within hours she was a bestselling author.

Amanda Gorman’s powerful recital of her poem The Hill We Climb was hailed as one of the standout moments of Joe Biden’s inauguration ceremony, with the likes of Oprah Winfrey, Michelle Obama and Hillary Clinton singing her praises.

Books by the 22-year-old Los Angeles based writer and former National Youth Poet Laureate were the two top sellers in their category on Amazon within hours of her appearance.

Gorman was proposed by Dr Jill Biden as a suitable poet for the recital, an occasional inauguration tradition that has seen Robert Frost perform at John F Kennedy’s inauguration in 1961 and Maya Angelou for Bill Clinton in 1993.

The unapologetically partisan poem addressed the darkness that many Americans felt during the Trump era, as well as the recent attempts to overturn the election result.

Amanda Gorman’s poem directly addressed the darkness many Americans felt during the Trump years. Picture: Rob Carr/Getty Images

“We’ve seen a force that would shatter our nation rather than share it / Would destroy our country if it meant delaying democracy,” she recited.

“And this effort very nearly succeeded / But while democracy can be periodically delayed, / It can never be permanently defeated.”

She ended the poem on a positive note with the lines “There is always light if only we’re brave enough to see it, if only we’re brave enough to be it.”

Gorman quickly became a darling of social media, telling her rapidly expanding fanbase (she gained more than 100,000 Twitter followers in an hour) that she was “on the floor” after she had been told about the sales of her books on Amazon.

“Thank you everyone for supporting me and my words,” she tweeted. “As Yeats put it: “For words alone are certain good: Sing, then”.

Hillary Clinton was one of many inauguration attendees to have a fangirl moment, tweeting a picture of herself with the poet.

“Wasn’t @TheAmandaGorman’s poem just stunning? She’s promised to run for president in 2036 and I for one can’t wait,” Clinton wrote.

Wasn't @TheAmandaGorman’s poem just stunning? She's promised to run for president in 2036 and I for one can't wait. pic.twitter.com/rahEClc6k2

— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) January 20, 2021

Oprah Winfrey told her 43 million followers that she had “never been prouder to see another young woman rise,” while Michelle Obama said Gorman’s words “remind us of the power we each hold in upholding our democracy”.

“Keep shining, Amanda! I can’t wait to see what you do next. Two hearts,” the former first lady stated, hashtagging the post “BlackGirlMagic”.

Originally published as Poet who stole Biden inauguration show