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Maya Angelou

Born

in St. Louis, Missouri, The United States

April 04, 1928

Died

May 28, 2014

Website

http://www.mayaangelou.com/

Twitter

DrMayaAngelou

Genre

Biographies & Memoirs, Poetry

Influences

Robert Burns ...more

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Maya Angelou was an American memoirist, poet, and civil rights activist. She published seven autobiographies, three books of essays, several books of poetry, and is credited with a list of plays, movies, and television shows spanning over 50 years. She received dozens of awards and more than 50 honorary degrees. Angelou's series of seven autobiographies focus on her childhood and early adult experiences. The first, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969), tells of her life up to the age of 17 and brought her international recognition and acclaim.
She became a poet and writer after a string of odd jobs during her young adulthood. These included fry cook, sex worker, nightclub performer, Porgy and Bess cast member, Southern Christian Leadership Maya Angelou was an American memoirist, poet, and civil rights activist. She published seven autobiographies, three books of essays, several books of poetry, and is credited with a list of plays, movies, and television shows spanning over 50 years. She received dozens of awards and more than 50 honorary degrees. Angelou's series of seven autobiographies focus on her childhood and early adult experiences. The first, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969), tells of her life up to the age of 17 and brought her international recognition and acclaim.
She became a poet and writer after a string of odd jobs during her young adulthood. These included fry cook, sex worker, nightclub performer, Porgy and Bess cast member, Southern Christian Leadership Conference coordinator, and correspondent in Egypt and Ghana during the decolonization of Africa. Angelou was also an actress, writer, director, and producer of plays, movies, and public television programs. In 1982, she was named the first Reynolds Professor of American Studies at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Angelou was active in the Civil Rights Movement and worked with Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. Beginning in the 1990s, she made approximately 80 appearances a year on the lecture circuit, something she continued into her eighties. In 1993, Angelou recited her poem "On the Pulse of Morning" (1993) at the first inauguration of Bill Clinton, making her the first poet to make an inaugural recitation since Robert Frost at the inauguration of John F. Kennedy in 1961.
With the publication of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Angelou publicly discussed aspects of her personal life. She was respected as a spokesperson for Black people and women, and her works have been considered a defense of Black culture. Her works are widely used in schools and universities worldwide, although attempts have been made to ban her books from some U.S. libraries. Angelou's most celebrated works have been labeled as autobiographical fiction, but many critics consider them to be autobiographies. She made a deliberate attempt to challenge the common structure of the autobiography by critiquing, changing, and expanding the genre. Her books center on themes that include racism, identity, family, and travel.
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Maya Angelou’s books

Average rating: 4.29 · 788,678 ratings · 35,717 reviews · 294 distinct works • Similar authors

	I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (Maya Angelou's Autobiography, #1) 4.30 avg rating — 580,776 ratings — published 1969 — 266 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Letter to My Daughter 4.09 avg rating — 34,838 ratings — published 1987 — 65 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Mom & Me & Mom 4.22 avg rating — 27,081 ratings — published 2013 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Heart of a Woman (Maya Angelou's Autobiography #4) 4.23 avg rating — 24,989 ratings — published 1981 — 77 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Gather Together in My Name 4.32 avg rating — 18,473 ratings — published 1974 — 44 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Complete Collected Poems 4.44 avg rating — 14,013 ratings — published 1994 — 47 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	And Still I Rise 4.39 avg rating — 10,981 ratings — published 1978 — 40 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Wouldn't Take Nothing for My Journey Now 4.30 avg rating — 10,960 ratings — published 1993 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Singin' and Swingin' and Gettin' Merry Like Christmas (Maya Angelou's Autobiography, #3) 4.25 avg rating — 9,704 ratings — published 1976 — 45 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes 4.29 avg rating — 8,088 ratings — published 1986 — 50 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Maya Angelou…

Series by Maya Angelou

Maya Angelou's Autobiography (7 books)
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Maya Angelou

4.29 avg rating — 673,716 ratings

Maya's World (5 books)
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Maya Angelou,

Lizzy Rockwell (Illustrations)

4.03 avg rating — 150 ratings

Luvvie Ajayi Jones—author, cultural critic, digital entrepreneur—might be best described as a professional truthteller. Her crazily popular...

Polls

October 2014 New School Poll

1911, The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett, pages 331

25 votes, 20.0%

1925, The Trial by Franz Kafka, pages 276

21 votes, 16.8%

1970, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou, pages 291

12 votes, 9.6%

1920, The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton, pages 305

9 votes, 7.2%

1952, Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, 581 pages

8 votes, 6.4%

1916, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce, pages 329

8 votes, 6.4%

1999, Girl With a Pearl Earring byTracy Chevalier, 233 pages

7 votes, 5.6%

1966, Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes, pages 311

7 votes, 5.6%

1901, Buddenbrooks: The Decline of a Family by Thomas Mann, pages 731

5 votes, 4.0%

1957, The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham, pages 220

4 votes, 3.2%

1924, The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham, pages 246

4 votes, 3.2%

1974, Ragtime by E.L. Doctorow, pages 336

4 votes, 3.2%

1952, The Birds by Daphne du Maurier, pages 75

4 votes, 3.2%

1914, Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham, 684 pages

2 votes, 1.6%

1908, The Man Who Was Thursday by G.K. Chesterton, pages 198

2 votes, 1.6%

1985, The Postman: Il Postino by Antonio Skármeta, pages 128

2 votes, 1.6%

1980. Aztec by Gary Jennings, pages 754

1 vote, 0.8%

1903, The Ambassadors by Henry James, pages 528

0 votes, 0.0%

125 total votes

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Maya Angelou’s Followers (14,604)

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