Maya Angelou (Author of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings)

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Maya Angelou

Born

in St. Louis, Missouri, The United States

April 04, 1928

Died

May 28, 2014

Website

Twitter

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鈥檚 books

Average rating: 4.28 · 765,999 ratings · 33,766 reviews · 259 distinct works 鈥� Similar authors

	I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (Maya Angelou's Autobiography, #1) 4.30 avg rating — 560,432 ratings — published 1969 — 264 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 — 33,440 ratings — published 1987 — 63 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 4.21 avg rating — 26,402 ratings — published 2013 — 41 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 4.23 avg rating — 24,486 ratings — published 1981 — 76 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 4.31 avg rating — 17,826 ratings — published 1974 — 68 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 — 13,719 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
	Wouldn't Take Nothing for My Journey Now 4.30 avg rating — 10,673 ratings — published 1993 — 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
	And Still I Rise 4.40 avg rating — 10,375 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
	Singin' and Swingin' and Gettin' Merry Like Christmas (Maya Angelou's Autobiography, #3) 4.25 avg rating — 9,428 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 4.28 avg rating — 7,859 ratings — published 1986 — 49 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)
by

Maya Angelou

4.29 avg rating — 650,930 ratings

Maya's World (5 books)
by

Maya Angelou,

Lizzy Rockwell (Illustrations)

4.03 avg rating — 149 ratings

聽 Luvvie Ajayi Jones鈥攁uthor, cultural critic, digital entrepreneur鈥攎ight be best described as a professional truthteller. Her crazily popular...

Polls

June 2016 New School Classic Poll

1966, The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov, 407 pages

38 votes, 18.1%

1996, A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin, 835 pages

35 votes, 16.7%

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

22 votes, 10.5%

1913, Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw, 134 pages

19 votes, 9.0%

1955, On the Road by Jack Kerouac, 307 pages

18 votes, 8.6%

1930, As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner, 267 pages

17 votes, 8.1%

1982, The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende, 448 pages

12 votes, 5.7%

1995, High Fidelity by Nick Hornby, 334 pages

11 votes, 5.2%

1940, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers, 368 pages

9 votes, 4.3%

1997, American Pastoral by Philip Roth, 424 pages

7 votes, 3.3%

1988, Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco, 649 pages

6 votes, 2.9%

1971, Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner, 569 pages

5 votes, 2.4%

1957, The Birds by Tarjei Vesaas, 200 pages

4 votes, 1.9%

1958, Our Man in Havana by Graham Greene, 220 pages

4 votes, 1.9%

1987, Cities of Salt by Abdul Rahman Munif, 627 pages

3 votes, 1.4%

210 total votes

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The Next Best Boo...: September's Group Reads ARE.....	78	355	Sep 23, 2010 10:51AM
Peace, Love, and....: Author Game	180	114	Oct 25, 2010 04:36PM

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