‘A Powerful Woman We Need in the World Today’

Amanda Gorman at the Arlington in Santa Barbara, April 30, 2024

Amanda Gorman at the Arlington Theatre in Santa Barbara | Credit: Ingrid Bostrom

Poetry may be the medium that Amanda Gorman found as her first home, but she’s going to excel, with confidence, in anything that she pursues. As evidenced during a thoroughly engaging, inspiring, and thought-provoking conversation with Pico Iyer at the Arlington Theatre on Tuesday night, Gorman is not just the poet of our age, but quite possibly the person of our age. She’s someone who thinks of everyone else in her thoughts, who’s considered many global issues from multiple angles, and yet she does so with charm and pop cultural cohesion.

I took my 11-year-old daughter, Madeline, there to see Gorman on a night when we were both tired, overworked in our own ways, and not sure that the Arlington was the place we needed to be. But within seconds of Gorman encouraging the crowd to “snap and make dark chocolate sounds” as she read her poem “Fugue,” we knew we were in the best place in Santa Barbara that night.

UCSB Arts & Lectures presented Pico Iyer in conversation with Amanda Gorman on April 30, 2024. | Credit: Ingrid Bostrom

Here’s what my daughter wrote about her experience:

“As my dad mentioned, I was not so sure about going out to the Arlington when I was already tired and ready for bed. The moment Amanda Gorman came onto the stage, my eyes and face lit up. Her smile, laugh, and humor made me feel like the best version of myself. Around me were hundreds of happy people, but right as Amanda started reading her poem ‘Fugue,’ it seemed as though she was speaking right to me. As if I was the only one in that huge, magical room. I loved how Amanda loosened up the room by cracking jokes and sharing stories. Each word she spoke meant something deeply special to me, and I can say the same for my dad. I remember thinking halfway through her talk about how I would rather be there, in that seat, next to my dad, than anywhere else in the world. I also recall, after the special performance, on the walk to the car, being completely speechless. All I could say was, ‘That was amazing.’ In all, I believe Amanda Gorman is not just a poet, or author, but a powerful woman we need in the world today.”