Call Us What We Carry

Praise for Call Us What We Carry by Amanda Gorman:


★ “An inspired anthem for the next generation—a remarkable poetry debut.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review

★ “Gorman’s newest poetry collection offers a stunning amalgamation of poems formatted in different styles to convey a message of sorrow, unity, and collective healing . . . Gorman’s poetry operates as a perfect combination of part elegy and part call to action. This stunning collection belongs on every shelf.” – Booklist, starred review

★ “At once heartbreaking and deeply healing, Gorman's collection calls readers to their best selves, even--or especially--in the face of great loss.” – Shelf Awareness, starred review


“Gorman’s thoughtfulness and activist spirit shine through on every page.” —Publishers Weekly

“In seven sections and through poems that often experiment with form, the book sets out to tell the story of the COVID-19 pandemic from a collective point of view, with Gorman exploring the grief, hope and wisdom that come from a period of shared tragedy. —Time.com

“Gorman doesn’t merely transcribe a diary of a plague year; her bold, oracular pronouncements bear witness to collective experience, with an uncanny confidence and a prescient tone that are all the poet’s own.” —New Yorker
 
“Amanda Gorman . . . reckons with America's present, particularly with the pandemic. Through the lens of the country's history, she shows us the path toward healing.” —NPR  

“Gorman shows us what an honor it is to witness history and to survive it, even if it doesn’t always feel that way. . . The liberating force of the stories these poems tell about our resilience and survival showcases a powerful griot for our times.” —OprahDaily.com

“Call Us What We Carry is thought-provoking and lyrical. Her poetry places readers back in the days of quarantine, back in that loneliness, and it makes us reflect on how far we've come and how far we still need to go.” —USA Today
 
“Her poetry insists that not just she but an entire country is capable of growing itself to a place of glory, like Tupac’s rose in concrete. Her emergence in this very moment is the instantiation of our ability to press on. We shall overcome goes the spiritual, but ‘We have survived us’ is what Gorman says. As she looks ahead in these pages, she is like Washington crossing the Delaware. ‘We must change/This ending in every way.’” —The Washington Post
 
“In Call Us What We Carry, Gorman has written a mnemonic symphony of hope and solidarity in the face of the ‘vanishing meaning’ of our time, speaking eloquently with ‘the lip of tomorrow.’” —The Guardian
 
“Between breath, light, water and soil, text messages and letters, and visual formations of ships, whales and flags, Gorman’s Call Us What We Carry is an inventive literary resurrection.” —AP