Amanda Gorman’s star has continued to rise following the presidential laureates beautiful poetry recital on Wednesday’s US presidential inauguration.
Within hours of her Wednesday delivery the 22 year saw two of her books reach the top of Amazon’s bestsellers list.
“I am on the floor. My books are number 1 and number 2 on Amazon after day 1,” the poet wrote on Twitter.
Gorman was born with a speech impediment that she was able to overcome and became the first US national youth poet laureate in 2017. She has now joined the ranks of other inaugural poets such as Robert Frost and Maya Angelou.
Alongside the honour of being the youngest poet in US history to mark the transition of executive power, the Harvard University graduates poetry collection, titled, The Hill We Climb, has debuted at the top of Amazon’s sales charts.
Another project being undertaken by Gorman is geared towards a younger audience and is titled Change Sings: A Children’s Anthem. This new project is due to be released in September.
According to the New York Times, Gorman said she had struggled to write the inaugural poem. It was the 6th of January assault on the US Capitol that gave her the motivation and inspiration to pen the final piece.
“Being American is more than a pride we inherit. It’s the past we step into and how we repair it,” Gorman read, just two weeks after the attempted insurrection.
The performance was an instant hit across both the country and the political spectrum, including from the likes of former president Barack Obama and the Republican-backed Lincoln Project
“Wasn’t [Gorman’s] poem just stunning? She’s promised to run for president in 2036 and I for one can’t wait,” tweeted Hillary Clinton, the former US secretary of state.
Booklytical 