Who Was Maya Angelou?

Maya Angelou is an author from the American South in the 1930s that was subject to prejudice throughout her life because of both her race and gender. Her most famous work is the five volume autobiographical series which starts with the story of her early life in "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings". The other books in her autobiographical series are "Gather Together in My Name", "Singin' and Swingin' and Gettin' Merry Like Christmas", "The Heart of a Woman" and "All God's Children Need Travellin' Shoes".

Maya Angelou is also an accomplished poet, with several publications in existence and a nomination for the Pulitzer Prize. She read the inauguration speech for Clinton when he took office as President in 1993, which is only the second time in history that a poet has been asked to do so. She also won the Grammy award in 1993 for the best spoken word album.

Maya Angelou writes sensitively and honestly about events in her life and at no point becomes jaded with life or acts the victim, emerging as a survivor and a strong black female role model. For this she has been hailed as a truly inspiring writer, and has become a prominent public figure. She has been awarded many honorary doctorates from American Universities.

Maya Angelou was born on April 4, 1928 in St. Louis, Missouri.

Maya Angelou is best known for autobiography titled, 'I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings'. This book was nominated for a National Book Award and it made her a symbol of pride for African-American women.. She was also very active in the civil rights movement. In the 1960s she worked as a teacher in Africa. When she returned to the United States she wrote and published her book,  'I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings'. In 1972 she was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for her collection of poetry titled, 'Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'fore I Diiie'.  Since 1981 she has been the Reynolds Professor of American Studies at Wake Forest University in North Carolina. At Bill Clinton's request, Maya Angelou wrote a poem titled 'On the Pulse of the Morning'. This was for his 1993 inauguration as U.S. president.