Angelou, Maya

Impact on the world

Published her debut memoir 'I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings' in 1969, an instant classic that became one of the first widely read autobiographies by a Black woman to address childhood sexual abuse directly, and in 1993 became the first African American to recite an original poem at a presidential inauguration, reading 'On the Pulse of Morning' for Bill Clinton, a moment that sent her 24-year-old memoir back onto bestseller lists with a 500 percent sales increase.

Life & background

Born Marguerite Annie Johnson and raised largely by her grandmother in segregated Stamps, Arkansas after her parents' divorce, Angelou survived a sexual assault at age eight by a family associate, an experience at the center of her first and most celebrated of seven autobiographies, 'I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings' (1969), praised by James Baldwin for its 'luminous dignity.' Before her literary career, Angelou worked as a waitress, singer, dancer, and actress, and she wrote extensively across genres, including poetry collections such as 'And Still I Rise' and 'Phenomenal Woman.' In 1993 she became the first African American to deliver an original poem at a presidential inauguration, reading 'On the Pulse of Morning' for Bill Clinton, a performance that propelled 'Caged Bird' back onto bestseller lists 24 years after its original publication, with reported sales increases of 500 percent. She held a lifetime appointment as Reynolds Professor of American Studies at Wake Forest University until her death at 86.

Sources

1. Poetry Foundation; Academy of American Poets; Encyclopædia Britannica