Amanda Gorman’s Writing and Performing Poetry reinvigorates the mandatory poetry-writing lessons we all suffered through
By Emma Hearnes
Hearing the words ‘how a verse or a poem can change the world’, followed by an analogy comparing writing to ‘going into battle’ would usually make me cringe all the way to the ‘close tab’ button. While some writers may find it validating to hear that ‘being a writer is like being addicted to this beautiful, wonderous thing which is also so difficult, so overlooked, so underestimated’, for me, that kind of language would be an immediate turn-off.
But Amanda Gorman, the United States’ first National Youth Poet Laureate who has also written three bestselling books and performed at President Biden’s inauguration and the Super Bowl, has enough cultural influence to keep me listening a little longer. And when you stick through the introduction, her masterclass, Writing and performing poetry, offers a wealth of grounded, practical advice.
The class immediately stands out from other poetry masterclasses, such as Billy Collins’s, because it’s grounded in the reality of our time. Gorman takes a purposeful step away from the ‘dead, cisgender, heterosexual white men’ she, along with the rest of us, remembers studying in school. She walks us through close readings of Maya Angelou and Audre Lorde and cites Toni Morrison, Lucille Clifton, Gwendolyn Brooks and Nikki Giovanni.
Other writers on MasterClass, including David Sedaris and Joy Harjo, stress the importance of ‘unplugging’ by getting off your phone and being in the world. Gorman talks about close-reading tweets and watching videos on social media as forms of research.
Gorman doesn’t have formal poetry training; thus, her masterclass isn’t a regurgitation of tired advice but is instead grounded in the ways she has improved through trial and error …
This review is an excerpt. To read the full article, pick up a copy of the October 2022 print version of Ellipses for free at either the RMIT Student Union in Building 8 on Swanston St or the lobby of Building 94 on Cardigan St.
Comments