At a glance
- Age
- 86
- Born
- April 4, 1928
- From
- St. Louis
- Nationality
- United States
Biography
The book most people meet her through is *I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings*, published in 1969. It covers her life up to the age of seventeen, and it made her known internationally. Six more autobiographies followed, all of them circling her childhood and her early adult years.
Born in St. Louis on 4 April 1928, she worked as a memoirist, essayist, poet and civil rights activist. Alongside the seven autobiographies came three collections of essays and several books of poetry, plus credits on plays, films and television programmes across more than fifty years. The recognition accumulated: dozens of awards and over fifty honorary degrees.
She died on 28 May 2014. Her work remains in print and her estate maintains a site at mayaangelou.com. Readers who arrive through a single quoted line usually find the same thing underneath it — a body of writing built out of her own life, told in instalments, over decades.
Born in St. Louis on 4 April 1928, she worked as a memoirist, essayist, poet and civil rights activist. Alongside the seven autobiographies came three collections of essays and several books of poetry, plus credits on plays, films and television programmes across more than fifty years. The recognition accumulated: dozens of awards and over fifty honorary degrees.
She died on 28 May 2014. Her work remains in print and her estate maintains a site at mayaangelou.com. Readers who arrive through a single quoted line usually find the same thing underneath it — a body of writing built out of her own life, told in instalments, over decades.
Quotes 5
“Courage is the most important of all the virtues, because without courage you can't practice any other virtue consistently.”
“Try to be a rainbow in someone's cloud.”
“If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude.”
“Nothing will work unless you do.”
“You will face many defeats in life, but never let yourself be defeated.”
