Amanda Gorman

This review is less of a recapitulation of this work and more of a persuasive piece for you to buy and read it. Through her words, Gorman shows us what it means to be an American. Through her experiences – unabashedly black, unabashedly young, and unabashedly colored by the COVID pandemic – she weaves together a script that is unabashedly American and recalls moments in our history to point the way forward.

She organizes her poems as if they played a part in a religious service or a piece show more of instrumental jazz. Contents include thematic sections like: Requiem, What a Piece of Wreck Is Man, Earth Eyes, Memoria, Atonement, Fury & Faith, and Resolution. Like any good poetess, she shows us our own souls, whether we are citizens of the world or citizens of America. These words contain potential to elevate our – your and my – collective rhetoric.

Each word is carefully chosen and dripping with meaning. She provides historical references to the American experience while reminding us that this American experience and aspiration is unfinished. She documents the recent pandemic while reminding us of pandemics past. She tells us of her “blackness” while reminding readers of their own uniqueness and our common humanity.

On January 20, 2021, Gorman read “The Hill We Climb” at the inauguration of Joe Biden to the US Presidency. That work closes this book. Just as when she read it in front of the Capitol, tears welled up in my eyes as I read it now. This entire collection is worthy of that performance and shows why Dr. Jill Biden recommended her to the inaugural committee to become the youngest person to recite an inaugural poem. Gorman’s words contain power to heal and to bring insight. Whether you are American or just a citizen of humanity, you ought to read them because they will inspire you. show less

This is a diverse and quite large collection of poems, but all of them are powerful. The main topic is the covid-19 pandemic, and Amanda Gorman writes about how it felt - the shock, the loneliness, the distance, the fear. She connects it to the 1918 flu, and also to the experiences of Black Americans, both in history and in the year 2020.
The author's style is incredibly poignant and sharp, her way with words is often surprising, but never feels forced. She also plays with form, for example, show more there are erasure poems using historical letters and documents, as well as visual poetry and one poem resembles a game of hangman.
It was not possible for me to read more than two poems in a row because there was so much to ponder and the words left such a strong impression.
Despite all the despair and sadness, a deep strength runs through these poems, and I am glad that I persisted despite the difficult topic. show less

I distinctly remember being blown away by the author's recital during the inauguration, and I watched it on YouTube today before reading the poem slowly to appreciate it in a different way. Even if the world on the whole seems to have changed for the worse and not for the better since then, to me the poem is still perfect, both in its form and language and in its message. Reading it slowly in a book made me appreciate the rhythm, the alliterations and the word play even more.

As for the show more message, I want to quote the ending of the poem:

For there is always light,
If only we are brave enough to see it,
If only we are brave enough to be it.

This resonates with me even more today than three years ago. show less

On 20 January 2021, I was incredibly moved by Amanda Gorman's address at President Biden's Inauguration. Gorman was the youngest presidential inaugural poet in US history and she definitely made an impression on those present that reverberated around the world. Watching her deliver her poem entitled The Hill We Climb, I was excited by this young mind and my admiration for her continues to grow.

Receiving a stunning hardback copy of The Hill We Climb for Christmas, I made sure to read this show more exactly a year to the day of the Inauguration event and was still moved by her words. They're just as relevant now as they were then and I doubt her message will ever date. Reading it every other day since then, (it's only 27 pages long), I decided to read her words while watching the video footage from that auspicious day in preparation for this review.

Gorman eloquently delivers a message of promise and hope, and in doing so, she has given every American a vision to aspire to:

"Because being American is more than a pride we inherit -
It's the past we step into, and how we repair it." Page 17

The Hill We Climb is inspiring to read, and watching Gorman's gestures, cadence, rhythm and delivery style elevates the experience to a whole new level.

If you haven't heard, watched or read The Hill We Climb by Amanda Gorman, I heartily recommend you do. It'll be the best 6 mins or 27 pages you'll ever experience. In the meantime, I'll leave you with my favourite section of the poem:

"In this truth, in this faith, we trust.
For while we have our eyes on the future,
History has its eyes on us." Page 19 show less