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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 · 788,578 ratings · 35,711 reviews · 296 distinct works • Similar authors

	I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (Maya Angelou's Autobiography, #1) 4.30 avg rating — 580,681 ratings — published 1969 — 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
	Letter to My Daughter 4.09 avg rating — 34,834 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 — 27,080 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 — 24,986 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 — 18,467 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 — 14,012 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 — 10,979 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 — 9,701 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 — 673,626 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

April 2017 New School Classic Poll

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle, 211, 1962

58 votes, 18.1%

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami, 607 pgs, 1994

47 votes, 14.7%

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou, 246, 1969

46 votes, 14.4%

The Color Purple by Alice Walker, 295, 1982

28 votes, 8.8%

The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy, 1997, 340

23 votes, 7.2%

The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan, 288 pgs, 1989

23 votes, 7.2%

All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren, 661, 1946

21 votes, 6.6%

The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, 192, 1967

21 votes, 6.6%

One of Ours by Willa Cather, 343, 1922

18 votes, 5.6%

Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder, 403, 1991

15 votes, 4.7%

The Custom of the Country by Edith Wharton, 370, 1913

10 votes, 3.1%

The Long Walk by Richard Bachman/Stephen King, 370, 1979

10 votes, 3.1%

320 total votes

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Maya Angelou’s Followers (14,602)

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