Poet Amanda Gorman Reads ‘The Hill We Climb’

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Poet Amanda Gorman arrives at the inauguration of U.S. President-elect Joe Biden on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol on January 20.

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Biden Transition Updates
‘History Has Its Eyes On Us.’ Poet Amanda Gorman Seeks Right Words For Inauguration

«Maya Angelou was mute growing up as a child and she grew up to deliver the inaugural poem for President Bill Clinton,» she says. «So I think there is a real history of orators who have had to struggle with a type of imposed voicelessness, you know, having that stage in the inauguration.»

There have only been a handful of inaugural poets; Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and John F. Kennedy were the only presidents in the past who chose to have poems read at their inaugurations. You can read all the previous poems here.

• Poetry