Incredible scenes.
Amanda Gorman made history at last night’s Super Bowl as she became the first person ever to recite poetry at the event.
The 22 year old delivered her powerful poem ahead of Sunday’s event, paying tribute to educator Trimaine Davis, nurse Suzie Dorner, and veteran James Martin, whose work has been paramount to the Covid-19 effort in the US.
Gorman emerged as a globally recognised talent during last month’s US presidential inauguration but her work has been enjoyed by thousands since she was a teenager.
Gorman became the youth poet laureate of Los Angeles at just 16, and last month became the youngest artist to write and recite a piece of work at a presidential inauguration.
“Wow, we’re about to see poetry at the Super Bowl for the first time people,” she wrote on Instagram before her performance last night.
Amanda Gorman performing at the #SuperBowl
(via @NFL)pic.twitter.com/p3ssQkM4TI
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) February 7, 2021
“It’s a turning page for poetry, for art, and for our country, because it means we’re thinking more imaginatively about the power of human stories, more expansively about the ways to connect us even when we feel more siloed than ever,” she went on.
“What’s more, I can’t tell you how many people I’ve heard say they are excited to watch the Super Bowl because there will be poetry at it. What a thrilling moment we live in, when we are so eager to celebrate art, hope and each other.”
Gorman, like the incredible Maya Angelou before her, has grappled with a speech impediment for most of her life. Once making it difficult for her to share her poetry aloud, she now sees her anxiety as part of her performance.
“I don’t look at my disability as a weakness,” she said. “It’s made me the performer that I am and the storyteller that I strive to be.
“When you have to teach yourself how to say sounds, when you have to be highly concerned about pronunciation, it gives you a certain awareness of sonics, of the auditory experience.”
