Angelou, Maya 1928- (Dr. Maya Angelou)

PERSONAL

Original name, Marguerite (some sources cite Marguerita) Annie Johnson; surname is pronounced "an-ge-loo"; born April 4, 1928, in St. Louis, MO; daughter of Bailey (a doorkeeper and dietitian) and Vivian (a nurse and realtor; maiden name, Baxter) Johnson; married Enistasious "Tosh" Angelou (some sources cite surname as Angelos), 1950 (divorced, c. 1952); married Vusumzi Make (a lawyer and activist; divorced, 1963); married Paul Du Feu, December, 1973 (divorced, c. 1981); children: Clyde Bailey "Guy" Johnson (a writer). Education: Attended public schools in Arkansas and California; studied dance with Martha Graham, Pearl Primus, and Ann Halprin; studied drama with Frank Silvera and Gene Frankel; studied music privately.

Addresses:

Agent—Helen Brann Agency, 94 Curtis Rd., CT 06752; Lordly and Dame, 51 Church St., Boston, MA 02116.

Career:

Writer, actress, singer, dancer, director, and producer. Habima Theatre, Tel Aviv, Israel, teacher of modern dance, c. 1955; Arab Observer (English-language newspaper), Cairo, Egypt, associate editor, 1961-62; University of Ghana, Institute of African Studies, assistant administrator of School of Music and Drama, 1963-66; University of California, Los Angeles, lecturer, 1966; University of Kansas, Lawrence, writer in residence, 1970; Wichita State University, Wichita, KS, distinguished visiting professor, 1974; California State University, Sacramento, distinguished visiting professor, 1974; Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC, distinguished visiting professor, 1974, Z. Smith Reynolds Professor of American Studies (lifetime appointment), 1981; American Film Institute, member of the faculty, beginning c. 1978. Ghanaian Broadcasting Corporation, writer, 1963-65; African Review, Accra, Ghana, features editor, 1964-66; writer for the Ghanian Times, Accra, Ghana; Rome Opera House, worked as a teacher of modern dance; worked as a nightclub performer; worked as streetcar conductor in San Francisco, CA; worked as a cook. American Council for the Arts, Nancy Hanks Lecturer, 1990. Southern Christian Leadership Conference, northern coordinator, 1959-60; Women Prison's Association, member of the advisory board; American Revolution Bicentennial Council, member, 1975-76; Institute for the Study of Human Systems, Zermatt, Switzerland, panelist, 1990; UNICEF, named national ambassador, 1996; member of the National Commission on the Observance of International Women's Year; chair of Horatio Alger Awards Dinner, 1993; volunteer for the United Negro College Fund (UNCF), and presenter of its awards, 2000. Appeared in television commercials for American Public Television. Recited her poem On the Pulse of Morning at the inauguration of President Bill Clinton, Washington, DC, 1993; also recited her poetry at the Million Man March, Washington, DC, 1995; produced a line of greeting cards and trinkets for Hallmark, 2002.

Member:

Directors Guild of America, Actors Equity Association, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (member of the board of trustees), American Film Institute (member of the board of trustees), Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans, Harlem Writers Guild.

Awards, Honors:

Obie Award, c. 1961, for The Blacks; National Book Award nomination, 1970, for I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings; Chubb fellow, Yale University, 1970; Pulitzer Prize nomination, 1972, for Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'Fore I Diiie; Antoinette Perry Award nomination, best supporting actress, 1973, for Look Away; Rockefeller Foundation scholar in Italy, 1975; Ladies Home Journal, named the woman of the year in communications, 1976, named one of the top 100 most influential women, 1983; Emmy Award nomination, outstanding supporting actress, 1977, for Roots; Matrix Award, 1983; Living Legacy Award, Women's International Center, 1986; North Carolina Award in Literature, 1987; Golden Plate, American Academy of Achievement, 1990; Langston Hughes Award, City College of New York, 1991; Maya Angelou CPT and Family Center was dedicated by the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, London, 1991; Horatio Alger Award, 1992; Crystal Award, Women in Film, 1992; named woman of the year, Essence, and distinguished woman of North Carolina, both 1992; Grammy Award, best spoken-word or non-traditional album, National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, 1994, for On the Pulse of Morning; medal of distinction, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1994; Image Award nomination, outstanding supporting actress in a motion picture, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), 1996, for How to Make an American Quilt; Image Award, best nonfiction literary work, NAACP, for Even the Stars Look Lonesome, 1998; Audience Choice Award, Chicago International Film Festival, 1998, and Black Film Award nomination, best director, Acapulco Black Film Festival, 1999, both for Down in the Delta; National Medal of the Arts, 2000; Aaron Davis Hall Harlem Renaissance Award, 2001; Grammy Award, best spoken word album, 2002 for A Song Flung Up to Heaven; Golden Eagle Award for Three Way Choice: Afro-American in the Arts; several honorary degrees, including degrees from Smith College and Mills College, both 1975, Lawrence University, 1976, and Wake Forest University, 1977.

CREDITS

Stage Appearances:

Calypso Heatwave, Off-Broadway production, 1957.

Cabaret for Freedom (musical revue), Village Gate Theatre, New York City, 1960.

Queen, The Blacks (also known as The Blacks: A Clown Show), St. Mark's Playhouse, New York City, 1961, then in Venice, Italy, and Berlin, West Germany (now Germany), both 1964.

Mother Courage and Her Children, University of Ghana, 1964.

Medea, Theatre of Being, Hollywood, CA, 1966.

Elizabeth Keckley, Look Away, Playhouse Theatre, New York City, 1973.

Major Tours:

Porgy and Bess, U.S. Department of State tour, European and African cities, 1954-55.

Stage Work:

Producer, Cabaret for Freedom (musical revue), Village Gate Theatre, New York City, 1960.

Director, And Still I Rise, Ensemble Theatre, Oakland, CA, 1976.

Director, Moon on a Rainbow Shawl, London, 1988.

Film Appearances:

Singer from Trinidad, Calypso Heat Wave, Columbia, 1957.

(Uncredited) Dancer, Porgy and Bess, Columbia, 1959.

Aunt June, Poetic Justice, Columbia, 1993.

Anna, How to Make an American Quilt (also known as American Quilt), Universal, 1995.

Narrator, The Journey of August King, Miramax, 1995.

Angelou on Burns (documentary), Taylored Productions, 1996.

Narrator, Perfect Moment (documentary), 1996.

Herself, Yari Yari: Black Women Writers and the Future (documentary), Third World Newsreel, 1999.

Herself, The Unfinished Journey (short documentary film), 1999.

Title role, Phenomenal Woman, 2001.

Herself, Sisters in Cinema, 2003.

Herself, The Ballad of Greenwich Village, 2005.

May, Medea's Family Reunion (also known as Tyler Perry's "Medea's Family Reunion" and Tyler Perry's "Medea's Family Reunion: The Movie"), 2006.

Narrator, As Seen Through These Eyes, 2008.

Film Director:

All Day Long, American Film Institute, 1974.

Down in the Delta, Miramax, 1998.

Television Appearances; Series:

Host, Assignment America, 1975.

Television Appearances; Miniseries:

Nyo Boto, Roots, ABC, 1977.

Television Appearances; Movies:

Lelia Mae, "There Are No Children Here," ABC Theatre, ABC, 1993.

Conjure woman, The Runaway, CBS, 2000.

We Are Not Vanishing, Showtime, 2002.

Television Appearances; Specials:

The Richard Pryor Special?, NBC, 1977.

The Richard Pryor Special, NBC, 1982.

Moyers: Facing Evil (also known as Facing Evil), PBS, 1988.

Presenter, "Trying to Make It Home," Byline, 1988.

"James Baldwin: The Price of a Ticket," American Masters, PBS, 1989.

"The R.A.C.E." (also known as "The Race and Racism"), NBC News Special, NBC, 1989.

The 22nd Annual NAACP Image Awards, NBC, 1990.

The Essence Awards, CBS, 1992.

Host, Who Cares about Kids?, PBS, 1992.

The Alistair Cooke Salute, PBS, 1992.

Kindred Spirits: Contemporary African-American Artists, PBS, 1992.

Herself, Malcolm X: The Real Story (also known as The Real Malcolm X), CBS, 1992.

Maya Angelou: Rainbow in the Clouds (also known as Discovering Faith with Maya Angelou), PBS, 1992.

The Changing of the Guard—A Pre-Inaugural Special, PBS, 1993.

The 12 Most Fascinating People of 1993, ABC, 1993.

One Child, One Dream: The Horatio Alger Awards, NBC, 1993.

The Great Depression, 1993.

Host, The 4th Annual Environmental Media Awards, TBS, 1994.

Presenter, The Essence Awards, Fox, 1994.

The Horatio Alger Awards, NBC, 1994.

Arthur Ashe: Citizen of the World, 1994.

Host, The Dvorak Concert from Prague—A Celebration (also known as Dvorak Gala from Prague), PBS, 1994.

Herself, A Century of Women (also known as A Family of Women), TBS, 1994.

Concert of the Americas (also known as The Kennedy Center Presents), PBS, 1994.

Generation X: Black Voices of Reason, Rage, and Responsibility (also known as Congressional Black Caucus Town Meeting and Generation X: Black Voices of Reason, Black Voices of Rage), syndicated, 1994.

"Malcolm X: Make It Plain," The American Experience, PBS, 1994.

The Gospel According to Jesus, Cinemax, 1995.

Presenter, The Horatio Alger Awards, CBS, 1995.

Maya Angelou Talking with David Frost, PBS, 1995.

Narrator, Elmo Saves Christmas, PBS, 1996.

Voice, How Do You Spell God?, HBO, 1996.

The Ark of the Spirit with Avery Brooks, TBS, 1996.

Images of Life: Photographs That Changed the World, CBS, 1996.

Herself, American Dreamers, TNT, 1996.

Herself, Porgy and Bess: An American Voice, PBS, 1998.

Quincy Jones—The First 50 Years, ABC, 1998.

Intimate Portrait: Maya Angelou, Lifetime, 1998.

A Century of Women, CNN, 1998.

Presenter, The 30th Annual NAACP Image Awards, Fox, 1999.

Narrator, Dare to Compete: The Struggle of Women in Sports, HBO, 1999.

The 1999 Special Olympics—World Summer Games, ABC, 1999.

The Great American History Quiz: Pursuit of Happiness, History Channel, 2000.

The Great American History Quiz: Heroes and Villains, History Channel, 2000.

Voice of Fairy Godmother, "Rip Van Winkle": An Animated Special from "Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child" Series, HBO, 2000.

Jessye Norman Sings for the Healing of AIDS, PBS, 2000.

"Quincy Jones: In the Pocket," American Masters, PBS, 2001.

America Responds: A National Conversation, PBS, 2001.

America Beyond the Color Line with Henry Louis Gates Jr., KCET, 2002.

Inside TV Land: African Americans in Television, TV Land, 2002.

"Roots": Celebrating 25 Years (also known as "Roots"—Celebrating 25 Years: The Saga of an American Classic), NBC, 2002.

Host, CMT: 20 Greatest Songs of Faith, Country Music Television, 2005.

Out of Africa: Heroes and Icons, BBC, 2005.

Celebrate! Christmas with Maya Angelou, Hallmark Channel, 2005.

The 2nd Annual Quill Awards, NBC, 2006.

Oprah Winfrey's Legends' Ball, ABC, 2006.

An Evening of Stars: Tribute to Stevie Wonder, 2006.

African American Lives 2, PBS, 2007.

Joe Louis: America's Hero Betrayed, HBO, 2008.

We Have a Dream, 2008.

Also appeared as host, Maya Angelou's America: A Journey of the Heart.

Television Appearances; Episodic:

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, NBC, 1971, 1972.

Narrator, "The Slave Coast," Black African Heritage, CBS, 1972.

Dinah! (also known as Dinah! & Friends), 1977.

Creativity with Bill Moyers, 1982.

Voice of herself, "Arthur's Eyes," Reading Rainbow, PBS, 1983.

"Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis," Biography, Arts and Entertainment, 1991.

The Arsenio Hall Show, 1994.

Clarice Mitchell, "Reunion," Touched by an Angel, CBS, 1995.

"Maya Angelou," Lauren Hutton and …, 1995.

The Rosie O'Donnell Show, syndicated, 1996.

Herself, "Eight and a Half Months," The Gregory Hines Show, CBS, 1997.

The Oprah Winfrey Show (also known as Oprah), syndicated, 1997, 2004.

Narrator, "Madagascar: A World Apart," The Living Edens, PBS, 1998.

"Fired Up," Moesha, UPN, 1999.

Herself, "Rosita Takes Pictures with Her Camera," Sesame Street (also known as Open Sesame, Sesame Street Unpaved, and The New Sesame Street), PBS, 1999.

"The Films of John Singleton," The Directors, 1999.

"Phyllis Diller: First Lady of Laughter," Biography, Arts and Entertainment, 2000.

"Oprah Winfrey: Heart of the Matter," Biography, Arts and Entertainment, 2000.

"Billie Holliday: Sensational Lady," Biography, Arts and Entertainment, 2002.

Tavis Smiley, PBS, 2004, 2005.

Larry King Live, CNN, 2005.

(As Dr. Maya Angelou) Breakfast, BBC, 2005.

(As Dr. Maya Angelou) The Heaven and Earth Show (also known as Heaven and Earth with Gloria Hunniford), BBC, 2005.

"Dave Chappelle & Maya Angelou," Iconoclasts, Sundance, 2006.

Television Producer; Series:

Blacks, Blues, Black, National Educational Television (now PBS), 1968.

Television Work; Movies:

Producer, Sister, Sister, 1982.

Television Work; Specials:

Worked as producer, Three Way Choice: Afro-American in the Arts.

Television Work; Episodic:

"The Tapestry/Circles," Visions, 1976.

RECORDINGS

Albums:

Miss Calypso (songs), Liberty Records, 1957.

Women in Business, University of Wisconsin, 1981.

Taped Readings:

The Poetry of Maya Angelou, GWP Records, 1969.

An Evening with Maya Angelou, Pacific Tape Library, 1975.

Maya Angelou Reading from Her Work, Archive of Recorded Poetry, Library of Congress, 1984.

On the Pulse of Morning, 1994.

Black Pearls: The Poetry of Maya Angelou, Rhino, 1998.

Hallelujah! The Welcome Table: A Lifetime of Memories with Recipes, Books on Tape, 2004.

Celebrations: Rituals of Peace and Prayer, Books on Tape, 2006.

Videos:

Creativity with Bill Moyers (also known as Maya Angelou), c. 1984.

WRITINGS

Stage Plays:

(With Godfrey Cambridge) Cabaret for Freedom (musical revue), Village Gate Theatre, New York City, 1960.

The Clawing Within, 1966.

The Least of These (two-act), Los Angeles production, 1966.

Adjoa Amissah (two-act), 1967.

(Adaptor) Sophocles, Ajax (two-act), Center Theatre Group, Mark Taper Forum, Los Angeles, 1973-74.

Encounters, Center Theater Group, Mark Taper Forum, 1973.

And Still I Rise (based on her poetry), Ensemble Theatre, Oakland, CA, 1976.

Moon on a Rainbow Shawl, London, 1988.

Screenplays:

Georgia, Georgia, Cinerama, 1972.

All Day Long, American Film Institute, 1974.

And Still I Rise (documentary; adapted from her poem), England, 1993.

Film Music:

(With Quincy Jones) Song, "You Put It on Me," For Love of Ivy, Cinerama, 1968.

Film score and song, "I Can Call Down Rain," Georgia, Georgia, Cinerama, 1972.

Perfect Moment (documentary), 1996.

Poetry Used in Films:

Poems "Alone, "A Conceit," "In a Time," "A Kind of Love, Some Say," and "Phenomenal Woman," Poetic Justice, Columbia, 1993.

Television Series:

Blacks, Blues, Black, National Educational Television (now PBS), 1968.

Assignment America, 1975.

Television Miniseries:

(With others) Brewster Place, ABC, 1990.

Television Movies:

(With Leona Thuna and Ralph B. Woolsey) I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (based on her autobiography), CBS, 1979.

(With John Berry) Sister, Sister, NBC, 1982.

Television Specials:

The Inheritors, 1976.

The Legacy, 1976.

"Trying to Make It Home," Byline, 1988.

Kindred Spirits: Contemporary African-American Artists, PBS, 1992.

Maya Angelou: Rainbow in the Clouds (also known as Discovering Faith with Maya Angelou), PBS, 1992.

Who Cares about Kids?, PBS, 1992.

How Do You Spell God?, HBO, 1996.

Also wrote Maya Angelou's America: A Journey of the Heart; Three Way Choice: Afro-American in the Arts and To the Contrary, PBS.

Autobiographies:

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Random House (New York City), 1970.

Gather Together in My Name, Random House, 1974.

Singin and Swingin and Gettin Merry Like Christmas, Random House, 1976.

The Heart of a Woman, Random House, 1981.

All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes, Random House, 1986.

Selections from I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and The Heart of a Woman, Literacy Volunteers of New York City, 1989.

(Lyricist with Alistair Beaton) King: A Musical Testimony (stage performance; also known as King), book by Lonne Elder III, music by Richard Blackford, London, 1990.

A Song Flung Up to Heaven, Random House, 2002.

To Have the Heart of Hope, Random House, 2008.

Poetry Collections:

Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'Fore I Diiie, Random House (New York City), 1971.

Oh Pray My Wings Are Gonna Fit Me Well, Random House, 1975.

And Still I Rise, Random House, c. 1978.

Shaker, Why Don't You Sing?, Random House, 1983.

Poems: Maya Angelou, four volumes, Bantam (New York City), 1986.

Now Sheba Sings the Song, illustrated by Tom Feelings, Dial (New York City), 1987.

I Shall Not Be Moved, Random House, 1990.

On the Pulse of Morning, Random House, 1993.

The Complete Collected Poems of Maya Angelou, Random House, 1994.

Phenomenal Woman: Four Poems Celebrating Women, Random House, 1994.

A Brave and Startling Truth, Random House, 1995.

Amazing Peace: A Christmas Poem, Random House, 2005.

Mother: A Cradle to Hold Me, Random House, 2006.

Complete Collected Poems, Virago Press, 2008.

Also author of The True Believers, with Abbey Lincoln.

Writings for Children:

Mrs. Flowers: A Moment of Friendship (juvenile fiction), illustrated by Etienne Delessert, Redpath Press (Minneapolis, MN), 1986.

Life Doesn't Frighten Me (poems for children), edited by Sara Jane Boyers, illustrated by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Stewart, Tabori & Chang (New York City), 1993.

(With others) Soul Looks Back in Wonder (juvenile anthology), illustrated by Tom Feelings, Dial (New York City), 1993.

My Painted House, My Friendly Chicken, and Me, photographs by Margaret Courtney-Clarke, C. N. Potter (New York City), 1994.

Kofi and His Magic, photographs by Courtney-Clarke, C. N. Potter, 1996.

Angelina of Italy, Random House, 2004.

Nonfiction:

Lessons in Living (essays), Random House (New York City), 1993.

Wouldn't Take Nothing for My Journey Now (meditations), Random House, 1993.

(With Rosamund Grant) Caribbean and African Cooking, Interlink Publishing Group (New York City), 1997.

Even the Stars Look Lonesome, Random House, 1997.

Hallelujah! The Welcome Table: A Lifetime Memories with Recipes (autobiography/cookbook), Random House, 2004.

Nonfiction; As Contributor:

Andrew Buchwalter, editor, Culture and Democracy: Social and Ethical Issues in Public Support for the Arts and Humanities, Westview (Boulder, CO), 1992.

Gerald Early, editor, Speech and Power: The African-American Essay and Its Cultural Content from Polemics to Pulpit, Ecco (Hopewell, NJ), 1992.

David Lazar, editor, Conversations with M. F. K. Fisher, University Press of Mississippi (Jackson, MS), 1992.

John Singleton and Veronica Chambers, Poetic Justice: Filmmaking South Central Style, foreword by Spike Lee, Delta (New York City), 1993.

Charlie Reilly, editor, Conversations with Amiri Baraka, University Press of Mississippi, 1994.

(And coeditor) Jontyle Theresa Robinson, editor, Bearing Witness: Contemporary Works by African American Women Artists, Rizzoli International Publications (New York City), 1996.

Author of Forewords:

(Author of introduction) Elliot Schneider, The Women of the Regent Hotel: The Unheard Voices of the Homeless in Poems, Child Development Center of the Jewish Board of Family and Child Services (New York City), 1987.

Patricia Bell-Scott, editor, Double Stitch: Black Women Write about Mothers and Daughters, Beacon Press (Boston, MA), 1991.

Margaret Courtney-Clarke, African Canvas: The Art of West African Women, Rizzoli International (New York City), 1991.

Zora Neale Hurston, Dust Tracks on the Road, Harper-Collins, 1991.

Richard A. Long, African Americans: A Portrait, Crescent Books (New York City), 1993.

Interviews:

Jeffrey M. Elliot, editor, Conversations with Maya Angelou, University Press of Mississippi (Jackson, MS), 1989.

Dannye Romine Powell, Parting the Curtains: Interviews with Southern Writers, J. F. Blair (Winston-Salem, NC), 1994.

Kelvin Shawn Sealey, editor, Restoring Hope: Conversations on the Future of Black America, Beacon Press (Boston, MA), 1997.

Interviews of Angelou have also appeared in periodicals, including the Paris Review.

Anthologies:

Maya Angelou Omnibus, Virago (London), 1991.

Other Writings:

Making Magic in the World, 1988.

Author of short stories, including "Reunion"; author of the short story collection All Day Long. Contributor of articles, short stories, and poems to periodicals, including Black Scholar, Chicago Daily News, Cosmopolitan, Ebony, Essence, Harper's Bazaar, Life, Mademoiselle, Millimeter, Ms., New York Times, National Geographic, and Redbook. Songwriter for B. B. King.

ADAPTATIONS

The television movie America's Dream, released by HBO in 1996, was based on various works, including Angelou's short story "Reunion."

OTHER SOURCES

Books:

Bloom, Harold, editor, Maya Angelou, Chelsea House (Philadelphia, PA), 1998.

Bloom, Harold, editor, Maya Angelou: Why the Caged Bird Sings, Chelsea House (New York City), 1995.

Braxton, Joanne M., Maya Angelou: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings: A Casebook, Oxford University Press (New York City), 1998.

Challener, Daniel D., Stories of Resilience in Childhood: The Narratives of Maya Angelou, Maxine Hong Kingston, Richard Rodrigues, John Edgar Wideman, and Tobais Wolff, Garland Publishing (New York City), 1997.

Concise Dictionary of American Literary Biography Supplement: Modern Writers, 1900-1998, Gale, 1998.

Contemporary Authors, New Revision Series, Volume 42, Gale, 1994.

Contemporary Literary Criticism, Gale, Volume 12, 1980, pp. 9-10; Volume 35, 1985, pp. 29-33.

Contemporary Poets, 7th ed., St. James Press, 2001.

Contemporary Southern Writers, St. James Press, 1999.

Dictionary of Literary Biography, Volume 38: Afro-American Writers after 1955: Dramatists and Prose Writers, Gale, 1985, pp. 3-12.

Elliot, Jeffrey M., editor, Conversations with Maya Angelou, University Press of Mississippi (Jackson, MS), 1989.

Georgoudaki, Ekaterini, Race, Gender, and Class Perspectives in the Works of Maya Angelou, Gwendolyn Brooks, Rita Dove, Nikki Giovanni, and Audre Lorde, Aristotle University of the Thessaloniki (Thessaloniki, Greece), 1991.

Hagen, Lyman B., Heart of a Woman, Mind of a Writer, and Soul of a Poet: A Critical Analysis of the Writings of Maya Angelou, University Press of America (Lanham, MD), 1996.

Kallen, Stuart A., Maya Angelou: Woman of Words, Deeds, and Dreams, Abdo and Daughters (Edina, MN), 1993.

King, Sarah E., Maya Angelou: Greeting the Morning, Millbrook Press (Brookfield, CT), 1994.

Lisandrelli, Elaine Slivinski, Maya Angelou: More Than a Poet, Enslow Publishers (Springfield, NJ), 1996.

Long, Richard A., African Americans: A Portrait, foreword by Angelou, Crescent Books (New York City), 1993.

Major Authors and Illustrators for Children and Young Adults, 2nd ed., Gale Group, 2002.

Major 20th-Century Writers, Gale, 1991, pp. 100-102.

McPherson, Dolly Aimee, Order out of Chaos: The Autobiographical Works of Maya Angelou, Peter Lang (New York City), 1990.

Notable Black American Women, Book 1, Gale Research, 1992.

Pettit, Jayne, Maya Angelou: Journey of the Heart, Lodestar Books (New York City), 1996.

Powell, Dannye Romine, Parting the Curtains: Interviews with Southern Writers, J. F. Blair (Winston-Salem, NC), 1994.

Sealey, Kelvin Shawn, editor, Restoring Hope: Conversations on the Future of Black America, Beacon Press (Boston, MA), 1997.

Shapiro, Miles, Maya Angelou, introductory essay by Coretta Scott King, Chelsea House (New York City), 1994.

Shuker, Nancy, Maya Angelou, Silver Burdett Press (Englewood Cliffs, NJ), 1990.

Singleton, John and Veronica Chambers, Poetic Justice: Filmmaking South Central Style, foreword by Spike Lee, Delta, 1993.

Spain, Valerie, Meet Maya Angelou, Random House (New York City), 1994.

Tate, Claudia, Black Women Writers at Work, Continuum (New York City), 1983.

Who's Who Among African Americans, 13th edition, Gale, 2000.

Williams, Mary E., editor, Readings on Maya Angelou, Greenhaven Press (San Diego, CA), 1997.

Women Filmmakers and Their Films, St. James Press, 1998.

Periodicals:

Black Scholar, summer, 1982.

Black World, July, 1975.

Detroit Free Press, May 9, 1986.

Los Angeles Times, May 29, 1983.

New Statesman, September 15, 1989, p. 37.

New York Times, January 20, 1993.

Paris Review, fall, 1990, pp. 145-167.

People Weekly, March 8, 1982, p. 92.

Smithsonian, April, 2003, p. 96; November, 2005, p. 84.

Times (London), September 29, 1986.

Village Voice, July 11, 1974; October 28, 1981.

Vogue, September, 1982, p. 416.

Maya Angelou

Maya Angelou (born 1928)—author, poet, play wright, stage and screen performer, and director—is best known for her autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1970), which recalls a young African American woman's discovery of her self-confidence.

Maya Angelou was born Marguerite Johnson on April 4, 1928, in St. Louis, Missouri. Growing up in rural Stamps, Arkansas, with her brother, Bailey, she lived with her pious grandmother, who owned a general store. She attended public schools in Arkansas and California, and became San Francisco's first female streetcar conductor. Later she studied dance with Martha Graham and drama with Frank Silvera, and went on to a career in theater. She appeared in Porgy and Bess, which toured 22 countries; on Broadway in Look Away; and in several off-Broadway plays, including Cabaret for Freedom, which she wrote in collaboration with Godfrey Cambridge.

During the early 1960s, Angelou lived in Egypt, where she was the associate editor of The Arab Observer in Cairo. During this time, she also contributed articles to The Ghanaian Times and was featured on the Ghanaian Broadcasting Corporation programming in Accra. During the mid-1960s, she became assistant administrator of the School of Music and Drama at the University of Ghana. She was the feature editor of the African Review in Accra from 1964 to 1966. During this time she served as northern coordinator for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference at the request of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

When she returned to the United States, Angelou worked as writer-producer for 20th Century-Fox Television, from which her full-length feature film Sisters, Sisters received critical acclaim. In addition, she wrote the screenplays Georgia, Georgia and All Day Long along with the television scripts for Sister, Sister and the series premiere of Brewster Place. She wrote, produced, and hosted the NET public broadcasting series Blacks! Blues! Black! Angelou also costarred in the motion picture How to Make an American Quilt in 1995.

Angelou has taught at several American colleges and universities, including the University of California at Los Angeles, the University of Kansas, Wichita State University, and California State University at Sacramento. Since the early 1980s, she has been Reynolds Professor and writer-in-residence at Wake Forest University.

Angelou has been a prolific poet for decades. Her collections include Just Give Me A Cool Drink of Water 'Fore I Die (1971); Oh Pray My Wings Are Going to Fit Me Well (1975); And Still I Rise (1976), which was produced as a choreo-poem on Off-Broadway in 1979; and Shaker, Why Don't You Sing (1983) Poems: Maya Angelou (1986); Life Doesn't Frighten Me, illustrated by celebrated New York artist Jean Michel Basquiat (1993); On the Pulse of the Morning (1993), recited at Bill Clinton's first Presidential Inauguration; Soul Looks Back in Wonder (1994); and I Shall Not Be Moved (1997), her first book of poetry in over 10 years.

Angelou's poetry is fashioned almost entirely of short lyrics and jazzy rhythms. Although her poetry has contributed to her reputation and is especially popular among young people, most commentators reserve their highest praise for her prose. Angelou's dependence on alliteration, her heavy use of short lines, and her conventional vocabulary has led several critics to declare her poetry superficial and devoid of her celebrated humor. Other reviewers, however, praise her poetic style as refreshing and graceful. They also laud Angelou for addressing social and political issues relevant to African Americans and for challenging the validity of traditional American values and myths. For example, Angelou directed national attention to humanitarian concerns with her poem "On the Pulse of the Morning," which she recited at the 1993 inauguration of President Bill Clinton. In this poem, Angelou calls for recognition of the human failings pervading American history and an renewed national commitment to unity and social improvement.

Although Angelou began her literary career as a poet, she is well known for her five autobiographical works, which depict sequential periods of her life. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1970) is about Marguerite Johnson and her brother Bailey growing up in Arkansas. It chronicles Angelou's life up to age sixteen, providing a child's perspective of the perplexing world of adults. Although her grandmother instilled pride and confidence in her, her self-image was shattered when she was raped at the age of eight by her mother's boyfriend. Angelou was so devastated by the attack that she refused to speak for approximately five years. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings concludes with Angelou having regained self-esteem and caring for her newborn son, Guy. In addition to being a trenchant account of an African American girl's coming-of-age, this work affords insights into the social and political tensions of the 1930s. Sidonie Ann Smith echoed many critics when she wrote: "Angelou's genius as a writer is her ability to recapture the texture of the way of life in the texture of its idioms, its idiosyncratic vocabulary and especially in its process of image-making."

Her next autobiographical work, Gather Together in My Name, (1974) covers the period immediately after the birth of her son Guy and depicts her valiant struggle to care for him as a single parent. Singin' and Swingin' and Gettin' Merry Like Christmas (1976) describes Angelou's stage debut and concludes with her return from the international tour of Porgy and Bess. The Heart of A Woman (1981) portrays the mature Angelou becoming more comfortable with her creativity and her success. All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes (1986) recalls her four-year stay in Ghana.

Widely celebrated by popular audiences and critics, Angelou has a long roster of recognitions, including: a nomination for National Book Award, 1970, for I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings; a Yale University fellowship, 1970; a Pulitzer Prize nomination, 1972, for Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'fore I Diiie; an Antoinette Perry ("Tony" ) Award nomination from League of New York Theatres and Producers, 1973, for performance in Look Away; Rockefeller Foundation scholar in Italy, 1975; honorary degrees from Smith College, 1975, Mills College, 1975, Lawrence University, 1976, and Wake Forest University, 1977; a Tony Award nomination for best supporting actress, 1977, for Roots; and the North Carolina Award in Literature, 1987. In the 1970s she was appointed to the Bicentennial Commission by President Gerald Ford, and the National Commission on the Observance of International Women's Year by Jimmy Carter. She was also named Woman of the Year in Communications by Ladies' Home Journal, 1976; and named one of the top one hundred most influential women by Ladies' Home Journal, 1983.

Angelou's autobiographical works have an important place in the African American tradition of personal narrative, and they continue to garner praise for their honesty and moving sense of dignity. Although an accomplished poet and dramatist, Angelou is dedicated to the art of autobiography. Angelou explained that she is "not afraid of the ties [between past and present]. I cherish them, rather. It's the vulnerability … it's allowing oneself to be hypnotized. That's frightening because we have no defenses, nothing. We've slipped down the well and every side is slippery. And how on earth are you going to come out? That's scary. But I've chosen it, and I've chosen this mode as my mode."

Further Reading

For biographical information, see the following periodical pieces: "The African-American Scholar Interviews: Maya Angelou," in the African-American Scholar (January/February 1977); "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings," in Ebony (April 1970); and Mary Helen Washington, "Their Fiction Becomes Our Reality," in African-American World (August 1974). For critical information see: Estelle C. Jelinek, "In Search of the African-American Female Self: African-American Women's Autobiographies and Ethnicity," in Women's Autobiography (1980); Claudia Tate, African-American Women Writers at Work (1983); Carol E. Neubauer, "Displacement and Autobiographical Style in Maya Angelou's The Heart of a Woman," in African-American Literature Forum (1983); and Mari Evans, "Maya Angelou" in African-American Women Writers, 1950-1980 (1983).

Additional information can be found in "Maya-ness is Next to Godliness," in GQ (July 1995) and "Maya Angelou: A Celebrated Poet Issues a Call to Arms to the Nation's Artists," in Mother Jones (May/June 1995). □

Angelou, Maya (1928–), St. Louis‐born author, singer, dancer, playwright, and stage and screen actress, long resident in California, has achieved most success with her frank and warm‐hearted autobiographical accounts of her life as a young black woman in America and her residence abroad in Egypt and Ghana, titled I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1970), Gather Together in My Name (1974), Singin' and Swingin' and Gettin' Merry Like Christmas (1976), The Heart of a Woman (1981), and All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes (1986). She has also written several collections of poems, including Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'fore I Diie (1971), Oh Pray My Wings Are Gonna Fit Me Well (1975), And Still I Rise (1978), Shaker, Why Don't You Sing (1983), Now Sheba Sings the Song (1987), and Shall Not Be Moved (1990). The Complete Collected Poems of Maya Angelou appeared in 1994. Wouldn't Take Nothing for My Journey Now (1993) is a memoir concerned with spirituality, sensuality, and healing.

Maya Angelou , 1928–, African-American writer and performer, b. St. Louis, Mo. as Marguerite Johnson. She toured Europe and Africa in the musical Porgy and Bess (1954–55), then sang in New York City nightclubs, joined the Harlem Writers Guild, and took part in several off-Broadway productions, including Genet's The Blacks and her own Cabaret for Freedom (1960). During the 1960s she was active in the African-American political movement; she subsequently spent several years in Ghana as editor of the African Review. Her six autobiographical volumes (1970–2002), beginning with I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, have generally been well-received. She has also published several volumes of poetry, including And I Still Rise (1987). Angelou read her poem "On the Pulse of Morning" at the inauguration of President Clinton in 1993.