Amanda Gorman, the United States' first-ever youth poet laureate, recited her stirring poem "The Hill We Climb" at the inauguration.

Amanda Gorman, the United States' first-ever youth poet laureate, recited her stirring poem The Hill We Climb, which is reprinted below, at the January 20, 2021 inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. The 22-year-old recent Harvard graduate was the youngest Inaugural Poet in history. Continue reading → Continue reading

"I share this honor with ancestors and teachers who inspired in me a love of poetry, who taught that words are powerful and can make change when understanding appears impossible."

Poet Joy Harjo has been named America's 23rd Poet Laureate — making her the first Native American person to hold the prestigious position! "Joy Harjo has championed the art of poetry — 'soul talk' as she calls it — for over four decades," Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden said in a press release announcing Harjo's selection. "To her, poems are 'carriers of dreams, knowledge and wisdom,' and through them she tells an American story of tradition and loss, reckoning and myth-making." The 68-year-old, who is also the first poet laureate from Oklahoma, called it a "tremendous honor," saying, "I share this honor with ancestors and teachers who inspired in me a love of poetry, who taught that words are powerful and can make change when understanding appears impossible, and how time and timelessness can live together within a poem." Continue reading → Continue reading