Maya Angelou: The Complete Poetry

One of the brightest lights of our time – a brilliant writer, a fierce friend, and a truly phenomenal

woman

The poems and stories she wrote and read to us in her commanding voice were gifts of wisdom

and wit, courage and grace … I will always be grateful for her electrifying reading of ‘On the Pulse

of Morning’ at my first inaugural, and even more for all the years of friendship that followed

The world knows her as a poet but at the heart of her, she was a teacher. “When you learn,

teach. When you get, give” is one of my best lessons from her

You will hear the regal woman, the mischievous street girl; you will hear the price of black

woman’s survival and you will hear of her generosity. Black, bitter, and beautiful, she speaks of

our survival

Maya Angelou was one of the world’s most important writers and activists. Born 4 April 1928, she lived and chronicled an extraordinary life: rising from poverty, violence and racism, she became a renowned author, memoirist, poet, playwright, civil rights’ activist - working with Malcolm X and Martin Luther King. She wrote and performed a poem, ‘On the Pulse of Morning’, for President Clinton on his inauguration. She was given the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Obama and was honoured by more than seventy universities throughout the world.

She first thrilled the world with I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969). This was followed by six volumes of autobiography, the seventh and final volume, Mom & Me & Mom, published in 2013. She wrote three collections of essays; many volumes of poetry, including His Day is Done, a tribute to Nelson Mandela; and two cookbooks. She had a lifetime appointment as Reynolds Professor of American Studies at Wake Forest University of North Carolina. She died in 2014.