Maya Angelou Biography
Maya Angelou, or her real name Marguerite Ann Johnson, was born on April 4, 1928. She is an American poet and writer who has been referred to as ‘America’s most visible black female autobiographer’. Maya Angelou has been recognized on the stage of American literature thanks to her six autobiographical volumes in which she described in detail her childhood and early adulthood. She published her first volume in 1969 under the name ‘I know why the caged bird sings’. This was not only the first biography of Maya Angelou, book but it was also the volume that brought her recognition and acclamation. In this volume she presents the first 17 years of her life. The same volume brought her international acclamation and a nomination for the National Book Award. The same publication brought her acclamation as a new type of memoirist as she was one of the first African American women who had discussed publicly her personal life. Throughout her life, Maya Angelou was awarded a nomination for the Pulitzer Prize in poetry in 1971 and more than 30 honorary degrees.
The Maya Angelou biography includes her membership of the Harlem Writers Guild which started in the late 1950s. Moreover, Maya Angelou was an active member of civil rights movement groups such as Dr. Martin Luther King. In 1991, Maya Angelou started teaching in North Carolina, at the Wake Forest University. It is estimated that ever since she has made about 80 appearances each year as a lecturer. Some may know Maya Angelou from her recitation of her poem ‘On the pulse of morning’ from 1993. The recitation was help with the occasion of the inauguration of America’s then new president, Bill Clinton. Few years later, in 1995, Maya received the recognition as she had the longest-running record of two years on the Paperback Nonfiction Bestseller List of The New York Times.