Richard Blanco — the youngest, first Hispanic, first immigrant and first openly gay man to read at a U.S. president's inauguration — is preparing to read his poetry this Sunday in Atlanta.

The event is set to run from 7-9 p.m. at Temple Sinai, 5645 Dupree Drive NW in Atlanta. Tickets are free, but a $15 donation is recommended. Find tickets here.

The child of Cuban exiles, Blanco often raises questions about cultural identity in his poetry: What is home? Where do I belong? He read his poem “One Today” at President Barack Obama’s swearing-in ceremony in January of 2013 and at the AJC Decatur Book Festival later that same year. The poem’s focus: a nation of diverse but tightly knit people.

"Whether we recognize it or not, the idea is that we don't behave as 'One Today' every day and that we haven't quite figured out how to make that a permanent state," he told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution about his poem in 2013. "So the idea is the striving for, the hope, the reaching for that ideal, which is the principal ideal of our nation."

About the Author

Keep Reading

Collect candy, play carnival games for prizes and do more not-so-scary stuff at Boo at the Zoo at Zoo Atlanta on Saturday and Sunday. (Courtesy of Zoo Atlanta)

Credit: Photo courtesy of Zoo Atlanta

Featured

Members of the conversion crew take a break as the main scoreboard is lowered to the floor to be worked on as the arena gets ready for the next concert at State Farm Arena, Thursday, October 2, 2025, in Atlanta. The crew was working on creating a stage for the Friday, Oct. 3 Maxwell concert. (Jason Getz/AJC)

Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com