Amanda Gorman is the star of WSJ. Magazine’s Fall Women’s Fashion Issue. The author, who came into the national spotlight after reading her original poetry at President Joe Biden’s inauguration, is featured on the cover of the forthcoming WSJ. issue, which hits newsstands Sept. 4.
During the wide-ranging cover interview, Gorman revealed to journalist Clover Hope that her ultimate goal is to one day run for president of the United States.
“I used to think about it in the more traditional sense of, ‘Ok, we’re going to do this poetry thing for a little bit and then you’re going to put the pen down and switch over to politics,” the 23-year-old said. “Being able to talk to people like Hillary Clinton and Nancy Pelosi, I realized I don’t have to change who I am to be a leader. If anything, those qualities will be what become my strength when I bring them into my field.”
“I think to make the impossible more proximate you have to treat it as if it’s in reaching distance,” she continued.
The WSJ. Magazine piece also includes a quote from Former First Lady Michelle Obama, who revealed her first impression of Gorman.
“I knew we were in the presence of someone special,” she said of meeting Gorman at the inauguration. “Looking at her, I see someone who can help us draw even closer to a better, more inclusive America — someone who will use her identity as a Black woman and her ability to connect with others to help reshape and repair the world around us.”
Gorman also reflected on her widely praised performance at the inauguration. Taking place just days after the violent Jan. 6 insurrection, Gorman said, “The only way I could show up as myself in that space was to recognize that darkness and light aren’t mutually exclusive. There was no way I would have been able to write and then read a poem if I felt like I wasn’t speaking truthfully about what we had seen happen.”