It’s hard for Amanda Gorman to describe what 2021 has been like for her. The National Youth Poet Laureate and Harvard graduate, who first captivated the world at Joe Biden’s inauguration, encapsulates her year as “living several lifetimes in a few months.” 

The 23-year-old became an overnight sensation (and fashion influencer) after her history-making reading of “The Hill We Climb” at the inauguration on January 20. Weeks later, Gorman took her words to the Super Bowl, not traditionally a literary event, reading “Chorus of the Captains” at the pregame ceremony. Her poem honored the heroes of the pandemic and contemplated the country’s losses. 

What followed was a year of milestones that Gorman couldn’t have imagined, from a show-stopping Vogue cover to co-chairing the 2021 Met Gala, in addition to publishing three number-one bestselling books in 11 months. 

Now, the Call Us What We Carry author brings her work to one of her largest audiences yet: In a new partnership with Instagram, Gorman debuts her latest poem, “A New Day’s Lyric,” on the social media platform’s official account. The poem says goodbye to 2021 with a dreamy video directed by Kajal, with Gorman styled by one of Hollywood’s A-list stylists, Jason Bolden. 

In a new interview with Vanity Fair, Gorman reflects on her achievements this year, her writing inspirations, and, of course, fashion. Below are condensed excerpts from the conversation.

Vanity Fair: You’ve had three number-one bestsellers in 11 months. How does your new book, Call Us What We Carry differ from “The Hill We Climb,” and what was the main inspiration for this collection? 

Amanda Gorman: Every single time I remind myself that I’ve had three number one bestsellers…. I almost fall out of my chair in shock. It is definitely the stuff of dreams, I can tell you that. The inspiration for Call Us What We Carry came out of me wanting to fashion a time capsule of what it means to go through a pandemic, collectively. And I felt that one of the best ways, I think, to capture collective experience is through poetry, through the words that we speak in our lives. In Call Us What We Carry, I didn’t want to give a mathematical timeline of what happened with Covid, though I think having that type of data is important. I wanted to tap into the emotionality of what it feels, [what] it does to the body, what it does to the mind, what it does to relationships with each other when we go through something so dark. And still find light and the best of each other.

What’s keeping you going through all of this and driving you to keep writing?

There’s so much that keeps me going. I think if I were to sum it up in one word, it wouldn’t even necessarily be hope. I think it would be love, which I persist [with] even when times seem hopeless and helpless. And it’s love, for example, for my family, love for my craft, love for the future, love for my country, love for change, and possibilities.

And so, I think the more that I ground my actions in this basis of caring, both for myself and others, the more strengthened and emboldened I feel to continue my work, because it’s not, let’s say, structured around something which is fragile, which I think is perfectionism, or fame, or money, or success. It’s grounded in something that is perennial and long-lasting, which is love.

As a writer, what type of mental or physical space do you have to be in to feel inspired to write? Do you have a go-to place to write? 

I think it’s both a mental and physical space that I’m always seeking. When I write, I try to do it in a context where I don’t feel rushed, where I feel like I have both the time and space to just ideate and daydream. And then, as for a physical location, I’ll often do it by, let’s say, a favorite window or a park bench. Or I really love writing next to water, whether that’s by a creek, or the ocean, or a pond. I like to give myself environmental cues to tap into the fact that I am getting ready to create. And it’s about looking both inwardly, but also outwardly to the world, and what’s changing, and moving, and fluid around me.

You’re debuting your latest New Year’s poem on Instagram, a platform with over 450 million followers. How did this partnership come about and what was it like filming the video for this?

I just feel so fortunate that I’ve been able to do this project at all, let alone with a partner like Instagram. It’s very rare in anyone’s life that you might have the fortune, by which to call up one of the most global platforms in our world and say, “Hey, I have this idea.” And get such an eager and enthusiastic response.

I’m looking forward to working with Instagram because part of what inspired me to write this New Year’s poem was thinking about the narratives and the stories that I’ve seen shared throughout the past two years, whether it’s reconciling with grief, loss, social change, climate change. And so, many of those narratives, I feel, we interact or meet with on social media.

And Instagram’s a really interesting platform … that is heavily focused on visuals, but there’s also so much text going on — so much language. And often, more than not, when I’m having a difficult time writing a poem, I’ll actually turn to what are the photos, what are the messages that I’m seeing online, and how can I represent that through poetry?

For example, there’s a line in “The Hill We Climb,” which goes, “We’ve seen a force that would shatter our nation rather than share it” — that actually came from me just scrolling through social media, seeing people’s reactions to the January 6th Capitol riot. That is to say, I think the ways in which we interact and share our narratives is a huge source of not just poetry, but also power. 

And there’s a special donation aspect to this project, as well?

Absolutely. I’m one of those people, where I always feel like I want to put my money and my actions where my mouth is. So, it’s insufficient for me just to write a poem. I want to think about, how is that poem living in a certain space? And how is it, literally, paying its way forward? And so, in working with Instagram, we felt that it would be a great coming together moment if this poem was also pointing people to some type of actionable step that they could take. And that’s, in part, a donate-able aspect of drawing attention to the International Rescue Committee, which is doing such important work globally, but also, all the more urgently in the time of COVID. 

You collaborated with stylist Jason Bolden on your look for this Instagram collaboration. What has it been like working with him throughout the year? 

I love Jason and I feel just so grateful that I get to have him on my team. When this year first started out, I had no stylist, no makeup artist, no hairstylist. And so, I was really just flying by the seat of my pants, showing up to covers or sets, and having no idea what’s going on. For the inauguration, my hair, makeup, clothing — that was all me.

And what’s so great now, is having someone, where this is their bread and butter. This is their craft in a very similar way to poetry being my art. And so, being able to lean on and depend on that expertise has been huge.  And the conversation with Jason for this piece, I think, has a very similar core to how we discuss all other ways I show up in spaces, which is we want to both use and marshal fashion as a way to say something, while also making sure that the focus is always on the words, on the language, on what is being said.

You also worked with Jason on your Vera Wang Lady Liberty Met Gala look. What was that moment like for you as a first-time host and attendee to fashion’s biggest night? 

Honestly, it’s so hard to summarize the Met Gala. It is the, and I say this with all capital letters, the it event of fashion, and I’d never gone before. So, for my first time there to be as a host, I just felt so fortunate because I felt like I was getting all the perspectives of different worlds. I was coming there as a poet. I was coming there as a host while also feeling very much like a guest.

It’s this really magical night where so many creative artistic minds come together. It was also the last time that I’d see [the late] Virgil Abloh, who was such a talented designer. And so, I just feel, honestly, so honored and humbled to have shared that space with people whose vision and dreams have changed the way we walk through the world. So, definitely, one of the most special nights of my life.

You're inspiring so many women, so many women of color, and a whole new generation of poets and writers, but who is inspiring you? 

I’d say my readers are always my muse. I’m always feeling as if I’m in this beloved two-way relationship, where it’s not just me putting out words, but people speaking back about how those words have been carried by and inside them. And I think that’s a real everlasting and, also, evolving source of inspiration. I feel that I’m existing in such a unique time, where I can both write a poem, put it out into the world, and then the world continues to do the work of that poem. I see it on murals. I see it in classrooms. I see it in prisons. I see it in households. And so, seeing the ways in which words can come to life and have their own pulse and have their own echos always reminds me of: This is why I get up to write. This is why I do what I do.

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