Richard Blanco says he still can’t believe how much his life has changed since he read his poem “One Today” at U.S. President Barack Obama’s second inauguration in 2013. After his appearance, he received thousands of emails from people who appreciated his descriptions of hardworking Americans and immigrants, including his parents, and his vision of “All of us as vital as the one light we move through.”

“I could tell from their messages that [my reading] was probably the first time they had ever encountered a living poet writing in a voice and a language that they understood, feeling like they belonged to America,” says Mr. Blanco. “Some of them wouldn’t even dare to call it a poem. They were like, ‘We loved your speech.’”

Mr. Blanco’s impact – as the first Latinx, immigrant, and gay pers

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