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Amanda Gorman Profile

Amanda S. C. Gorman - is an American poet and activist focusing on oppression, feminism, race, and marginalization. Gorman was the first to be named National Youth Poet Laureate and published the poetry book “The One for Whom Food Is Not Enough.”

How did Amanda Gorman fix her speech impediment?

Ultimately, reciting poetry provided her with her greatest strength — her voice. In an interview, she told CBS This Morning that poetry served as a form of speech pathology, and through lots of practice, she overcame her speech impediment. She said she recited poetry, spoken word, and rap to help her learn how to say "r" words.

Gorman drew upon the contemporary style of spoken-word poetry, which emphasizes the rhythms and rhymes of the poet's voice as she speaks. For example, spoken-word poets treat poems as performances rather than texts for silent contemplation.

Contemporary poetry is most often written in free verse (unrhymed lines). The lines follow the natural rhythms of the language and not the strict five stresses per line in iambic pentameter. Contemporary poetry is written in language that is accessible to the ordinary reader.



“Never a day did I feel more loved & lovely

Never a day did I soar as more me

Where absolutely nothing was held above me

But waiting always before me”