MAYA ANGELOU

Late 1950s: Sang in West Coast and Hawaiian

nightclubs, before returning to NY to continue
her stage career.

Biography

BIRTH: Marguerite Johnson - St. Louis,

- Joined the Harlem Writers Guild

and met James Baldwin & other important

Missouri - April 4, 1928

writers.

FAMILY: parents - Bailey Johnson & Vivian

Baxter Johnson; brother - Bailey Jr.

SPOUSE: Tosh Angelos (divorced)

SON: Clyde Bailey Guy Johnson

EARLY LIFE: Grew up in St. Louis and Stamps,

the Southern Christian Leadership Conference

o

EDUCATION: Lafayette Country Training

School, George Washington High School, &
Mission High School

Caged Bird Sings.

of a five-part television miniseries Three Way

Choice.

Timeline

and later by Jimmy Carter to the Commission

for International Woman of the Year.

emphasized the importance of the spoken

word, explained the nature of and
importance of education, & instilled in her

a love of poetry.

1979: Helped adapt her book, I Know Why the

Caged Bird Sings, for a television movie of the
same name.

17: graduated from high school and gave

birth to a son began to work as the first

1974: Returned to the US & was appointed by

Gerald Ford to the Bicentennial Commission

woman, finally got her to speak again.

o

1971: Wrote the original screenplay and

musical score for the film Georgia, Georgia,
and was both author and executive producer

DEATH: May 28, 2014 - Winston-Salem, North

12 & a half: Mrs. Flowers, an educated black

1969: Encouraged by author James Baldwin

and Robert Loomis (editor at Random House)
to write an autobiography I Know Why the

Carolina

1964 - 1966: Feature editor of the African

Review in Accra, Ghana.

songwriter, playwright, dancer, stage &

1961 -1962: Associate editor of The Arab

language news weekly in the Middle East

OCCUPATION: Author, poet, historian,

screen producer, director, performer, singer,
& civil rights activist

requested by Martin Luther King Jr.

Observer in Cairo, Egypt - only English-

Arkansas

1959: Became the northern coordinator for

female and black street car conductor in San

1995: Played Lelia Mae in the 1993 television

Francisco.

film There Are No Children Here and appeared

as Anna in the feature film How to Make an

1950: Married a white ex-sailor, Tosh Angelos.

American Quilt.

1954 - 1955: Member of the cast of a touring

production of Porgy and Bess.

1982: Served as the Reynolds professor of

American Studies at Wake Forest University in
Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

1993: Wrote and delivered a poem, On The

Pulse of the Morning," at the inauguration for

President Bill Clinton at his request.

Singin and Swingin and Gettin Merry

Like Christmas (1976) - account of her
tour in Europe and Africa with Porgy and
Bess

2000: Received the National Medal of Arts

o

2010: Awarded the Presidential Medal of

began when Angelou is 17 & a new

mother

Freedom by President Barack Obama.

2013: Recipient of the Literarian Award, an

honorary National Book Award for
contributions to the literary community.

Gather Together in My Name (1974) -

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969)

Most famous work - I Know Why the Caged

Bird Sings (1969)

Important facts

with her brother and paternal

grandmother

Remained mute for five years, but developed

a love for language.

describes how she was raped by her

Took lessons in dance and drama on a

mother's boyfriend when she was just 7

scholarship at the California Labor School.

years old

The first black woman director in Hollywood,

Angelou wrote, produced, directed, and
starred in productions for stage, film, and
television.

deals with her early years where she lived

nominated for a National Book Award

faced controversy over its portrayal of

race, sexual abuse and violence

Took her 15 years to write the final volume of

her autobiography - A Song Flung up to
Heaven (2002) - covers 4 years, from the time
she returned from Ghana through the moment

Angelou worked for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. &

Malcolm X as a civil rights activist

Awarded over 50 honorary degrees

when she sat down at her mother's table &

began to write I Know Why the Caged Bird

Read black authors like Langston Hughes, W.

Sings.

E. B. Du Bois, and Paul Lawrence Dunbar, as

well as works by William Shakespeare, Charles
Dickens, and Edgar Allan Poe.

Twice nominated for a Tony award for acting:

o

Broadway debut in Look Away (1973)

Roots (1977)

Works

Best known for her autobiographical

books

Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'fore I

Diiie(1971) - nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in

Letter to My Daughter (2008)

All Gods Children Need Traveling

racial and religious harmony, and social

justice for people of different origins, incomes,

Shoes (1986) - recounts her travels in

West Africa & decision to return, w/o her
son, to America.
o

1972 - 38 poems
On the Pulse of Morning - calls for peace,

genders, and sexual orientations

The Heart of a Woman (1981) - description

of her acting & writing career in NY and
her work for the civil rights movement

Wrote several books for children

Life Doesn't Frighten Me (1993) - featured

advice on subjects ranging from faith to

the work of Jean-Michel Basquiat

My Painted House, My Friendly Chicken,

jealousy.
Even the Stars Look Lonesome (1997)
Letter to my Daughter (2008)

and Me (1994) & Kofi and His Magic (1996)

- collaborations with the photographer

Margaret Courtney-Clark.
Wrote occasional poems
o The Complete Collected Poems of Maya
o

Writing Style
Angelous use of fiction-writing techniques like
dialogue and plot in her autobiographies was
innovative for its time and helped to
complicate the genres relationship with truth

Angelou (1994)
Phenomenal Woman (1995) - collection of
4 poems that takes its title from a poem
which originally appeared
in Cosmopolitan magazine in 1978 describes the physical and spiritual
characteristics and qualities that make her

attractive.
Brave Startling Truth (1995) -

commemorated the founding of the United

Nations
Amazing Peace (2005) - written for the
White House Christmas tree-lighting

o
o

ceremony
Published multiple collections of essays
o Wouldn't Take Nothing for My Journey

and memory.
Though her books are episodic and tightlycrafted, the events seldom follow a strict
chronology and are arranged to emphasize

themes.
HER POETRY:
o can be traced to African-American oral
traditions like slave and work songs, esp.
in her use of personal narrative &
emphasis on individual responses to
o
o

hardship, oppression and loss

often respond to matters like race and sex
has often been lauded more for its
depictions of black beauty, the strength of
women, and the human spirit; criticizing
the Vietnam War; demanding social justice

Now (1993) - contains declarations,

complaints, memories, opinions, and

for allthan for its poetic virtue.

usually recited before spellbound crowds