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19 Facts Everyone Should Know About Amanda Gorman

Introducing the youngest poet ever to speak at a US inauguration.

Wonderfully talented and truly unstoppable, Amanda Gorman is a force to be reckoned with.

In case you want to know more about this incredible young woman, we've rounded up some tidbits below:

1. In 2017, she was the first person to be named the national youth poet laureate, which is far from an easy achievement.

2. Before that, in 2014, she was named the youth poet laureate of Los Angeles.

3. She's the one you couldn't take your eyes off of at the 2021 presidential inauguration and the Super Bowl.

Giphy News / Via giphy.com

4. She read her title work, "The Hill We Climb," from her soon-to-be-released poetry collection at the inauguration. Can you imagine?

Amanda Gorman walking to the stage at the 2021 presidential inauguration, she is wearing a long yellow jacket and red face mask
Win McNamee / Getty Images

5. And she followed that up by reading an original poem, called "Chorus of the Captains," at the 2021 Super Bowl.

amanda gorman at the super bowl
NFL

6. Amanda has been signed to a publisher and is set to release three books this year.

7. The Hill We Climb: An Inaugural Poem for the Country is available for preorder.

Amanda Gorman reciting a poem for the 2021 presidential inauguration, she is facing the crowed while wearing a yellow long jacket
Pool / Getty Images

Hold a copy of her inauguration speech in your own hands as soon as March 30. (And if you missed it, you can watch the whole thing right here.)

8. And The Hill We Climb: And Other Poems, an expansive collection, is also available for preorder.

Amanda Gorman wearing a pink long sleeved dress at the american black film festival honors awards ceremony
Leon Bennett / WireImage / Getty Images

This one won't hit shelves until September.

9. In addition, her inspiring children's book, Change Sings: A Children's Anthem, is available for preorder.

10. While they're not yet available, these books have already achieved bestseller status, with preorders through the roof.

11. And for a look back at her early years in poetry, Amanda even self-published a book, The One for Whom Food Is Not Enough, in 2015.

12. She has been a vocal activist for a very long time.

13. She started a charity organization — One Pen One Page — in 2016.

Amanda Gorman speaks onstage during the Prada Shaping a Sustainable Future Society while wearing a red long sleeve shirt
Jared Siskin / Getty Images

It was founded with a focus on literacy and youth activism.

14. She's also an alum of Write Girl, a mentorship program and organization that promotes "creativity and self-expression to empower girls."

Amanda Gorman in a yellow dress giving a speech
Astrid Stawiarz / Getty Images for Together Live

It's a great organization!

15. She graduated from Harvard University in 2020.

16. (And yes, she graduated cum laude, alongside her many other academic accolades.)

17. She has a twin sister, Gabrielle.

18. Amanda has been outspoken about the auditory processing disorder she was diagnosed with in kindergarten, which makes her hypersensitive to sound.

Amanda Gorman reciting a poem
Larry French / Getty Images

She told CNN that she was still struggling with r sounds just a few years ago, and told the Today show that "the only thing that can impede me is myself."

19. There's no stopping her ascent.

MTV / Via giphy.com

Feel free to send this to all your friends because chances are, they're aching to know everything about her too.

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Brooke Greenberg / BuzzFeed

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