Page 6 The Skanner Portland & Seattle September 21, 2022
Arts & Entertainment
Q&A: Amanda Gorman Talks UN Poem, Fame, Future Presidency
LOS ANGELES (AP) —
When Amanda Gorman
was invited to read a
newly developed poem at
the U.N. General Assem-
bly, the young sensation
took a deep look at how
several societal issues
— such as hunger and
poverty — have impacted
Earth’s preservation.
Just like her stirring
inauguration poem last
year, Gorman felt com-
pelled to express the
impact of unity through
her poetic words on the
opening day of the 77th
session Monday in New
York. The 24-year-old
poet created “An Ode We
Owe” in hopes of bring-
ing all nations together
to tackle various issues
of disparity along with
preserving the planet.
Gorman once again
graced center stage in
front of world leaders.
Her fame exploded af-
ter she recited her poem
“The Hill We Climb” at
President Joe Biden’s in-
auguration, which made
her the youngest inau-
gural poet in U.S. his-
tory. Her poem quickly
topped bestsellers lists
and made her one of the
most in-demand poets,
putting her on other big
stages like the Super
Bowl and in an interview
with Oprah Winfrey.
In an exclusive inter-
view with The Associ-
ated Press on Sunday,
Gorman talked about
her hopes for the U.N.
poem, her future presi-
dency plans, resentment
she’s gotten toward her
commercial success and
wanting to someday
write a novel.
Remarks have been ed-
ited for clarity and brev-
ity.
AP: What do you want
listeners to take away
from your poem?
GORMAN: What I hope
people can garner from
the poem is that while is-
sues of hunger and pov-
erty and illiteracy can
feel Goliath and are so
huge, it’s not necessarily
that these issues are too
large to be conquered.
But they’re too large to be
stepped away from.
AP PHOTO/SETH WENIG
By JONATHAN
LANDRUM Jr. AP Enter-
tainment Writer
Amanda Gorman recites a poem during an event called “SDG Moment” at United Nations headquarters,
Monday, Sept. 19, 2022. The event is meant to highlight the urgency and importance of the United Nations’
sustainable development goals.
AP: How important is
having a young voice like
yourself to speak at the
General Assembly?
GORMAN: When I was
writing this poem, I kept
getting flashbacks of
several years ago when I
came to New York for the
first time. I was 16 and I
was coming as the Unit-
ed Nations delegate for
the Commission on the
Status of Women. That
was the first time I’d real-
ly ever engaged the U.N.
as a space in any way. I
just remember not see-
ing people who looked
as young as me. I also
looked like I was 11 at the
time. I started marinat-
ing on this idea of “I want
to come back someday
in the future. I don’t just
want to be a delegate. I
want to be a presenter.”
I’m not here to speak on
behalf of young people,
but to speak alongside
and with them.
AP: Why did you touch
on Sustainable Devel-
opment Goals in your
poem?
GORMAN: I actually
think that there’s swaths
of the population which
has yet to be engaged or
kind of told or activated
around the Sustainable
Development Goals. So
much of what I like to do
in the poem is making
sure that we raise aware-
ness around these issues
and show that these goals
do exist.
AP: How have you
managed the transition
to being a high-level ce-
lebrity?
GORMAN: I’m still
learning and growing so
much. I think one of the
things that changed so
much for me was just pri-
vacy. All of a sudden I be-
came someone — which I
never really necessarily
expected — who gets rec-
ognized on the street. If I
go to a restaurant, even if
I’m wearing a mask, peo-
ple are very good at spot-
ting my face and or my
voice. I’m very grateful
for that type of visibility,
even though sometimes I
do miss individual priva-
cy because it means that I
have a platform that I can
use for good.
AP: How have people
approached you while in
public?
GORMAN: I had an
experience
(Saturday)
night. I was eating at a
restaurant and a woman
just came up to me and
started crying and say-
ing how much my poetry
meant to her. It’s flab-
bergasting to me. That’s
not a rare occurrence
in my life anymore. My
friends started crying
around me seeing this
woman’s emotion. I had a
great conversation with
that woman before she
moved on, and me having
to take a moment, sit with
the fact that there were
so many people around
the world who probably
have this person’s same
response that haven’t
gotten to me. I want to
do justice by them when
I write. I want to hon-
or them when I write.
That’s a really hefty ask.
But I also think it’s a deep
seated privilege of mine.
I think that’s the thing
that I wrestle with and
draw power from when
I write.
AP: Has the fame
changed your writing?
GORMAN: I think it
hasn’t changed my writ-
ing in the sense that my
voice and style is still the
same because the roots
of where I come from are
still there. But I do think
it makes me think more
creatively and imagi-
natively about ways in
which I can get those po-
ems in the world.
AP: Is it much harder to
write these days?
GORMAN: I think the
main difficulty in writ-
ing poetry for me nowa-
days is, yes, that there’s
a lot going on. But even
if I’m able to carve out
time and space to write,
I think the biggest chal-
lenge that I can face
sometimes is just my
own self-sabotage in the
sense that I feel so much
pressure and so many
eyes on me.
AP: How do you keep
out the distractions?
GORMAN: I’m like a
70-year-old in an 11-year-
old body. I have muscles
from that of pulling away
from technology and
pretending like it’s not
there. Like it doesn’t ex-
ist. When I write, I tend
to put all my devices on
“Do Not Disturb.”
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