• Maya Angelou is an American poet, actress, author, and activist.

• Fast Facts

  1. Born: April 4, 1928
  2. Birthplace: St. Louis, Missouri
  3. Literary Genre: Poetry, Nonfiction, Fiction
  4. Awards: 2000 Presidential Medal of Arts, 3 Grammy Awards, Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award nominations, over 30 honorary degrees
  5. Mentor to Oprah Winfrey

• Career

  Maya Angelou's first autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, garnered her a National Book Award nomination. In it, she recounts being sexually abused by her mother's boyfriend, who later dies after spending a day in prison. The incident left Angelou mute for five years.

  She eventually spoke again, later performing in Porgy and Bess and other off-Broadway shows in the 1950s. She then worked with Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s.

  In 1971, her first book of poetry, Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'Fore I Diiie, was published. The book got a Pulitzer Prize nomination, and Angelou's subsequent writings have earned her numerous awards and honors in her lifetime.

  She continues to write and tour as a lecturer.

• Notable Written Works

  • 1969 - I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
  • 1971 - Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'Fore I Diiie
  • 1978 - And I Still Rise

• Notable Recorded Works

  • 1993 - On The Pulse of Morning
  • 1995 - Phenomenal Woman
  • 2002 - A Song Flung Up to Heaven

• Related Mahalo Pages

  Oprah Winfrey | Martin Luther King Jr. | Zora Neale Hurston | Elizabeth Alexander | Phenomenal Women | I know Why the Caged Bird Sings | Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'fore I Die | Freedom Movement | Roots | Black History | Poets | Philosophers | Amazing Peace | Poetry for Young People | Mother a Cradle to Hold Me | Celebration Rituals of Peace and Prayer | And Still I Rise | Guy Johnson | Aung San Suu Kyi

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