[imagesource: Stephanie Mitchell/Harvard Staff Photographer]

After Amanda Gorman took the podium at President Joe Biden’s inauguration and recited her poem, The Hill We Climb, she became a household name overnight.

Less than a day after her recital, preorders of two of her upcoming books, a poetry collection titled The Hill We Climb and a children’s picture book, Change Sings, were through the roof, elevating her to the top of Amazon and Barnes & Noble’s bestseller lists.

She has since given multiple interviews on TV and in publications, including The New York Times, and most recently, TIME.

The TIME interview came with a twist – it was with former First Lady Michelle Obama.

Gorman also appeared on the cover:

You can read the full interview here.

Let’s take in some of the highlights.

Obama spoke about how moved she was while watching Gorman read her poem, commenting on her presence onstage. She wanted to know how Gorman prepared for the inauguration.

Every time we meet, I secretly hope you forget me because then I get a clean slate. But you being the amazing person you are, you always remember. When I first wrote the poem, I was thinking that in the week leading up to the Inauguration I would be rehearsing every day. But everything was moving so quickly, I actually didn’t get to really sit down with the text until the night before.

Gorman says that she eventually just stepped into the “emotionality of the poem”.

Obama on poetry:

Poetry sometimes gets a bad rap—people think it’s all stuffy. How do you think we can make poetry accessible and cool, especially for a young audience?

She’s not wrong – ask the average undergraduate if they like poetry and the answer is more often than not a resounding “no”.

Gorman’s response:

Poetry is already cool. Where we run into trouble is often we are looking through such a tight pinhole of what poems can be. Specifically we’re looking at dead white men. Those are the poems that are taught in school and referred to as classics. We really need to break out of the pathology that poetry is only owned by certain elites. Where we can start is highlighting and celebrating poets who reflect humanity in all of its diverse colors and breadth.

Obama spoke about her own nervousness and ‘imposter syndrome’ before she gives a speech or talk, and asked Gorman if she feels the same.

Speaking in public as a Black girl is already daunting enough, just coming onstage with my dark skin and my hair and my race—that in itself is inviting a type of people that have not often been welcomed or celebrated in the public sphere.

Beyond that, as someone with a speech impediment, that impostor syndrome has always been exacerbated because there’s the concern, Is the content of what I’m saying good enough? And then the additional fear, Is the way I’m saying it good enough?

To round things off (it’s a long interview and well worth a read in full), Obama asked Gorman if she has any advice for “young girls, and Black girls in particular, who earn their way into the spotlight?”:

My question is do they have any advice for me. I’m new to this, so I’m still learning. I would say anyone who finds themselves suddenly visible and suddenly famous, think about the big picture.

Especially for girls of color, we’re treated as lightning or gold in the pan—we’re not treated as things that are going to last. You really have to crown yourself with the belief that what I’m about and what I’m here for is way beyond this moment.

I’m learning that I am not lightning that strikes once. I am the hurricane that comes every single year, and you can expect to see me again soon.

I’ll leave you with Gorman talking about poetry and sudden fame:

[source:time]