As the poem performed at the inaguration of a new administration in a tumultuous time in American history, "The Hill We Climb" is undoubtedly an important poem for people in the United States of America. Although the poem is so specific to the American context, America's influence on the rest of the world has led to international fascination with the work.
The poem is being translated into many languages to reach a larger audience, but because of its personal and identity-based rhetoric, certain translators have faced controversy when trying to render the work into their own language. For example, non-binary poet Marieke Lucas Rjineveld was asked to translate the poem into Dutch, but later stepped down over controversy because they do not identify as Black. Many are concerned that this concern for the identity of the translator will exclude large swaths of people from translating in the future, creating a world where writers of certain identities can only be translated by those who share the same identities. However, others argue that this whole debate does not take into account the lack of opportunity for eligible translators of underprivileged groups, where certain translators of more mainstream identities might be favored because of the systems that privilege their identities. Amanda Gorman herself has not commented on this issue, but she has reserved the right to choose the translators for her work. Currently, some translators have teamed up to write their versions of "The Hill We Climb," but these issues are ongoing.
