Published March 25, 2024
A limited number of tickets are available for Tuesday night’s Distinguished Speakers Series event featuring author and activist Amanda Gorman.
Tickets are available for sale starting at 10 a.m. Monday, March 25, exclusively through Ticketmaster. The event takes place at 7 p.m. tomorrow in the Mainstage Theatre in the Center for the Arts, North Campus.
Gorman, the first-ever National Youth Poet Laureate of the United States, received international acclaim for her performance of her poem “The Hill We Climb” at the inauguration of President Joe Biden.
She is a committed advocate for the environment, racial equality and gender justice. Her activism and poetry have been featured on the “Today Show,” “PBS Kids” and “CBS This Morning,” as well as in The New York Times, Vogue and Essence.
After graduating cum laude from Harvard University, she now lives in her hometown of Los Angeles. In 2017, Gorman was appointed the first-ever National Youth Poet Laureate by Urban Word — a program that supports Youth Poets Laureate in more than 60 cities, regions and states nationally. Her groundbreaking performance of “The Hill We Climb” at the 2021 presidential inauguration received international critical acclaim, inspiring millions of viewers with her message of hope, resilience and healing.
Gorman appeared on the cover of TIME magazine in February 2021 and was the first poet to grace the cover of Vogue in its May 2021 issue. She was Porter Magazine’s July 2021 cover star and received the Artist Impact Award at the 2021 Backstage at the Geffen Awards.
Gorman was one of five Variety magazine Power of Women honorees and cover star, as well as one of three cover stars for Glamour's Women of the Year.
A special edition “The Hill We Climb” was published in March 2021. Her debut picture book, “Change Sings,” was released in September 2021, and her poetry collection, “Call Us What We Carry,” was released in December 2021. All debuted at No. 1 on The New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestseller lists.