Maya Angelou (1928 - )

Born Marguerite Johnson on April 4, 1928 in St. Louis, Missouri, Maya Angelou received her greatest acclaim for the first volume of her autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1970). At turns a professional dancer, singer, and actress, Angelou has become world-renowned as a poet, essayist, and lecturer. In 1993, Angelou delivered her poem "On the Pulse of Morning," at the inauguration of President William Jefferson Clinton. In 1998, Angelou returned to her musical roots by releasing an album with the duo Ashford & Simpson, and directed her first feature film, Down in the Delta.

Angelou has been the recipient of numerous awards for her literary and dramatic work: in 1970, she was nominated for the National Book Award for I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings; in 1972, she was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for her book of poems, Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'fore I Diiie; in 1972, she was nominated for a Tony award for her work in the play Look Away and, in 1977, for an Emmy award for her work in the landmark mini-series Roots. Although Angelou did not complete any formal higher education, she has received honorary degrees from Smith College (1975), Mills College (1975), and Lawrence University (1976).

In both her prose and her poetry, Angelou demonstrates the power that personal narrative can have to illuminate broader social issues.

Sources

Lynn Z. Bloom, "Maya Angelou," in the Dictionary of Literary Biography (vol. 38): Afro-American Writers After 1955: Dramatists and Prose Writers, eds. T. M. Davis and T. Harris (1985), 3-12.

Linda Metzger, et al., Black Writers: A Selection of Sketches from Contemporary Authors (1989), 13-15.

Kathleen Thompson, "Angelou, Maya," in Facts on File Encyclopedia of Black Women in America (vol. 2): Literature, ed. Darlene Clark Hine (1997), 23-26.

For further resources for the study of Maya Angelou, see the exhibit bibliography.

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