Maya Angelou whose name was originally Marguerite (some sources say Marguerita) Johnson; surname is pronounced "An-ge-lo"; born April 4, 1928, in St. Louis, Missouri, United States; daughter of Bailey (a doorkeeper and naval dietician) and Vivian (a nurse and realtor; maiden name, Baxter) Johnson; married Tosh Angelou (divorced c. 1952); married Paul Du Feu, December, 1973 (divorced); children: Guy Johnson.
Angelou is hailed as one of the great voices of contemporary black literature and as a remarkable Renaissance woman. She began producing books after some notable friends, including author James Baldwin, heard Angelou's stories of her childhood spent shuttling between rural, segregated Stamps, Arkansas, where her devout grandmother ran a general store, and St. Louis, Missouri, where her worldly, glamorous mother lived. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, a chronicle of her life up to age sixteen (and ending with the birth of her son, Guy) was published in 1970 with great critical and commercial success. Although many of the stories in the book are grim, as in the author's revelation that she was raped at age eight by her mother's boyfriend, the volume also recounts the self-awakening of the young Angelou. "Her genius as a writer is her ability to recapture the texture of the way of life in the texture of its idioms, its idiosyncratic vocabulary and especially in its process of image-making," reports Sidonie Ann Smith in Southern Humanities Review. "The imagery holds the reality, giving it immediacy. That [the author] chooses to recreate the past in its own sounds suggests to the reader that she accepts the past and recognizes its beauty and its ugliness, its assets and its liabilities, its strengths and its weaknesses. Here we witness a return to the final acceptance of the past in the return to and full acceptance of its language, the language a symbolic construct of a way of life. Ultimately Maya Angelou's style testifies to her reaffirmation of self-acceptance, [which] she achieves within the pattern of the autobiography."
Author, poet, playwright, professional stage and screen
producer, director, and performer, and singer. Taught modern dance at Habima Theatre, Tel
Aviv, Israel, and the Rome Opera House, Rome, Italy. Appeared in Porgy and Bess on
twenty-two-nation tour sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, 1954-55; appeared in
Off-Broadway plays Calypso Heatwave, 1957, and The Blacks, 1960; produced
and performed in Cabaret for Freedom, with Godfrey Cambridge, Off-Broadway, 1960;
University of Ghana, Institute of African Studies, Legon-Accra, Ghana, assistant
administrator of School of Music and Drama, 1963-66; appeared in Mother Courage at
University of Ghana, 1964, and in Meda in Hollywood, 1966; made Broadway debut in Look
Away, 1973; directed film All Day Long, 1974; directed her play And Still I
Rise in California, 1976; directed Errol John's Moon on a Rainbow Shawl in
London, England, 1988; appeared in film Roots, 1977. Television narrator,
interviewer, and host for Afro-American specials and theatre series, 1972. Lecturer at
University of California, Los Angeles, 1966; writer in residence at University of Kansas,
1970; distinguished visiting professor at Wake Forest University, 1974, Wichita State
University, 1974, and California State University, Sacramento, 1974; professor at Wake
Forest University, 1981--. Northern coordinator of Southern Christian Leadership
Conference, 1959-60; appointed member of American Revolution Bicentennial Council by
President Gerald R. Ford, 1975-76; member of National Commission on the Observance of
International Women's Year.
'Above excerpted from information under copyright by Gale Research.
Mom
& Me & Mom
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Hardcover: 224 pages
Publisher: Random House (April 2, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1400066115
ISBN-13: 978-1400066117
Product Dimensions: 5.3 x 0.9 x 8.3 inches
The story of Maya Angelou’s extraordinary life has been chronicled in her
multiple bestselling autobiographies. But now, at last, the legendary author
shares the deepest personal story of her life: her relationship with her
mother.
For the first time, Angelou reveals the triumphs and struggles of being the
daughter of Vivian Baxter, an indomitable spirit whose petite size belied
her larger-than-life presence—a presence absent during much of Angelou’s
early life. When her marriage began to crumble, Vivian famously sent
three-year-old Maya and her older brother away from their California home to
live with their grandmother in Stamps, Arkansas. The subsequent feelings of
abandonment stayed with Angelou for years, but their reunion, a decade
later, began a story that has never before been told. In Mom & Me & Mom,
Angelou dramatizes her years reconciling with the mother she preferred to
simply call “Lady,” revealing the profound moments that shifted the balance
of love and respect between them.
Delving into one of her life’s most rich, rewarding, and fraught
relationships, Mom & Me & Mom explores the healing and love that evolved
between the two women over the course of their lives, the love that fostered
Maya Angelou’s rise from immeasurable depths to reach impossible heights.
Gather
Together in My Name
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Paperback: 224 pages
Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks (April 21, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0812980301
ISBN-13: 978-0812980301
Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.2 x 0.7 inches
Gather Together in My Name continues Maya Angelou's personal story, begun so
unforgettably in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. The time is the end of
World War II and there is a sense of optimism everywhere. Maya Angelou,
still in her teens, has given birth to a son. But the next few years are
difficult ones as she tries to find a place in the world for herself and her
child. She goes from job to job'and from man to man. She tries to return
home'back to Stamps, Arkansas'but discovers that she is no longer part of
that world. Then Maya's life takes a dramatic turn, and she faces new
challenges and temptations.
In this second volume of her poignant autobiographical series, Maya Angelou
powerfully captures the struggles and triumphs of her passionate life with
dignity, wisdom, humor, and humanity.
I
Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
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Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: Ballantine Books; Reissue edition (April 21, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0345514408
ISBN-13: 978-0345514400
Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.1 x 0.7 inches
Sent by their mother to live with their devout, self-sufficient grandmother
in a small Southern town, Maya and her brother, Bailey, endure the ache of
abandonment and the prejudice of the local 'powhitetrash.' At eight years
old and back at her mother's side in St. Louis, Maya is attacked by a man
many times her age'and has to live with the consequences for a lifetime.
Years later, in San Francisco, Maya learns about love for herself and the
kindness of others, her own strong spirit, and the ideas of great authors
('I met and fell in love with William Shakespeare') will allow her to be
free instead of imprisoned.
Poetic and powerful, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is a modern American
classic that will touch hearts and change minds for as long as people read.
Letter
to My Daughter
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Paperback: 192 pages
Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks (October 27, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0812980034
ISBN-13: 978-0812980035
Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 0.6 inches
Dedicated to the daughter she never had but sees all around her, Letter
to My Daughter reveals Maya Angelou's path to living well and living a life
with meaning. Here in short spellbinding essays are glimpses of the
tumultuous life that taught Angelou lessons in compassion and fortitude: how
she was brought up by her indomitable grandmother in segregated Arkansas,
taken in at thirteen by her more worldly and less religious mother, and grew
to be an awkward six-foot-tall teenager whose first experience of loveless
sex paradoxically left her with her greatest gift, a son.
Whether she is recalling lost friends such as
Coretta Scott King and
Ossie Davis, extolling honesty, decrying vulgarity, explaining why becoming
a Christian is a "lifelong endeavor," or simply singing the praises of a
meal of red rice, Maya Angelou writes from the heart to millions of women
she considers her extended family.
Mother: A Cradle to Hold Me
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ISBN: 1400066018
Pub. Date: April 2006
Format: Hardcover, 32pp
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
"With her signature eloquence and heartfelt appreciation, renowned poet and national treasure Maya Angelou celebrates the first woman we ever knew: Mother." From the beginnings of this profound relationship through teenage rebellion and, finally, to adulthood, where we stand to inherit timeless maternal wisdom, Angelou praises the patience, knowledge, and compassion of this remarkable parent. Perfect for Mother's Day, or for any day on which we wish to acknowledge this all-important bond, Mother is an awe-inspiring affirmation of the enduring love that exists in every corner of the globe.
Celebrations:
Rituals of Peace and Prayer - Read by, Maya Angelou
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order (Compact Disc - Unabridged) via
Amazon
Click to order Book via Amazon
ISBN: 1400066107
Pub. Date: October 2006
Format: Hardcover, 128pp
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Celebrations on Random House which includes memorial tributes to the late Barry White and Luther Vandross, "On the Pulse of Morning" written for Bill Clinton's 1993 inauguration and a birthday wishes to Oprah was released
Book Description
Grace, dignity, and eloquence have long been hallmarks of Maya Angelou's
poetry. Her measured verses have stirred our souls, energized our minds, and
healed our hearts. Whether offering hope in the darkest of nights or
expressing sincere joy at the extraordinariness of the everyday, Maya
Angelou has served as our common voice.
Celebrations is a collection of timely and timeless poems that are an
integral part of the global fabric. Several works have become nearly as
iconic as Angelou herself: the inspiring 'On the Pulse of Morning,' read at
President William Jefferson Clinton's 1993 inauguration; the heartening
'Amazing Peace,' presented at the 2005 lighting of the National Christmas
Tree at the White House; 'A Brave and Startling Truth,' which marked the
fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations; and 'Mother,' which beautifully
honors the first woman in our lives. Angelou writes of celebrations public
and private, a bar mitzvah wish to her nephew, a birthday greeting to Oprah
Winfrey, and a memorial tribute to the late Luther Vandross and Barry White.
More than a writer, Angelou is a chronicler of history, an advocate for
peace, and a champion for the planet, as well as a patriot, a mentor, and a
friend. To be shared and cherished, the wisdom and poetry of Maya Angelou
proves there is always cause for celebration.
Amazing
Peace: A Christmas Poem
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ISBN: 1400065585
Format: Hardcover, 32pp
Pub. Date: December 2005
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
In this beautiful, deeply moving poem, Maya Angelou inspires us to embrace the peace and promise of Christmas, so that hope and love can once again light up our holidays and the world. 'Angels and Mortals, Believers and Nonbelievers, look heavenward,' she writes, 'and speak the word aloud. Peace.'
Read by the poet at the lighting of the National Christmas Tree at the White House on December 1, 2005, Maya Angelou's celebration of the 'Glad Season' is a radiant affirmation of the goodness of life and a beautiful holiday gift for people of all faiths.
Hallelujah! The
Welcome Table
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ISBN: 1400062896
Format: Hardcover, 240pp
Pub. Date: September 2004
Publisher: Random House Adult Trade Publishing Group
Throughout Maya Angelou's life, from her childhood in Stamps, Arkansas,
to her world travels as a bestselling writer, good food has played a central
role. Preparing and enjoying homemade meals provides a sense of purpose and
calm, accomplishment and connection. Now in Hallelujah! The Welcome
Table, Angelou shares memories pithy and poignant'and the recipes that
helped to make them both indelible and irreplaceable.
Angelou tells us about the time she was expelled from school for being
afraid to speak'and her mother baked a delicious maple cake to brighten her
spirits. She gives us her recipe for short ribs along with a story about a
job she had as a cook at a Creole restaurant (never mind that she didn't
know how to cook and had no idea what Creole food might entail). There was
the time in London when she attended a wretched dinner party full of
wretched people; but all wasn't lost'she did experience her initial taste of
a savory onion tart. She recounts her very first night in her new home in
Sonoma, California, when she invited M. F. K. Fisher over for cassoulet, and
the evening Deca Mitford roasted a chicken when she was beyond tipsy'and
created Chicken Drunkard Style. And then there was the hearty brunch Angelou
made for a homesick Southerner, a meal that earned her both a job offer and
a prophetic compliment: 'If you can write half as good as you can cook, you
are going to be famous.'
Maya Angelou is renowned in her wide and generous circle of friends as a
marvelous chef. Her kitchen is a social center. From fried meat pies,
chicken livers, and beef Wellington to caramel cake, bread pudding, and
chocolate'clairs, the one hundred-plus recipes included here are all tried
and true, and come from Angelou's heart and her home. Hallelujah! The
Welcome Table is a stunning collaboration between the two things Angelou
loves best: writing and cooking.
A
Song Flung Up to Heaven
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ISBN: 0375507477
Format: Hardcover, 224pp
Pub. Date: April 2002
Publisher: The Random House Publishing Group
The sixth volume of Angelou's autobiography
"A Song Flung Up to Heaven opens as Maya Angelou returns from Africa to the United States to work with Malcolm X. But first she has to journey to California to be reunited with her mother and brother. No sooner does she arrive there than she learns that Malcolm X has been assassinated." "Devastated, she tries to put her life back together, working on the stage in local theaters and even conducting a door-to-door survey in Watts. Then Watts explodes in violence, a riot she describes firsthand." "Subsequently, on a trip to New York, she meets Martin Luther King, Jr., who asks her to become his coordinator in the North, and she visits black churches all over America to help support King's Poor People's March." But once again tragedy strikes. King is assassinated, and this time Angelou completely withdraws from the world, unable to deal with this horrible event. Finally, James Baldwin forces her out of isolation and insists that she accompany him to a dinner party - where the idea for writing I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is born. In fact, A Song Flung Up to Heaven ends as Maya Angelou begins to write the first sentences of Caged Bird.
The Heart of a Woman (Oprah's Book Club Series)
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ISBN: 0375500723
Pub. Date: June 1997
Format: Hardcover, 288pp
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
"At times Maya brings the reader into her own concept of what is really our life purpose. Maya has an phenomenal way of showing emotion through her writing that makes the reader reflect how life sometimes knocks us off our feet - but we must get back up. One of these ways is by forgiving all and learning from life lessons. This, in part, will bring out the very best in oneself: Maya Angelou delivers this in her autobiography. As in The Heart of the Woman, we all need to forgive ourselves as well as others and take life as it comes from within the heart. As James Baldwin stated, "I know that not since the days of my childhood, when people in books were more real than the people one saw every day, have I found myself so moved." -Nichel Anderson
From the Publisher
Maya Angelou has fascinated, moved, and inspired countless readers with the
first three volumes of her autobiography, one of the most remarkable personal
narratives of our age. Now, in her fourth volume, The Heart of a Woman, her
turbulent life breaks wide open with joy as the singer-dancer enters the
razzle-dazzle of fabulous New York City. There, at the Harlem Writers Guild, her
love for writing blazes anew.
Her compassion and commitment lead her to respond to the fiery times by becoming
the northern coordinator of Martin Luther King's history-making quest. A
tempestuous, earthy woman, she promises her heart to one man only to have it
stolen, virtually on her weding day, by a passionate African freedom fighter.
Filled with unforgettable vignettes of famous characters, from Billie Holiday to
Malcolm X, The Heart of a Woman sings with Maya Angelou's eloquent prose ' her
fondest dreams, deepest disappointments, and her dramatically tender
relationship with her rebellious teenage son. Vulnerable, humorous, tough, Maya
speaks with an intimate awareness of the heart within all of us
Even the Stars Look LonesomeISBN: 0375500316
Pub. Date: September 1997
Format: Hardcover, 145pp
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Even the Stars Look Lonesome is Maya Angelou talking of the things she cares about most. In her unique, spellbinding way, she re-creates intimate personal experiences and gives us her wisdom on a wide variety of subjects. She tells us how a house can both hurt its occupants and heal them. She talks about Africa. She gives us a profile of Oprah. She enlightens us about age and sexuality. She confesses to the problems fame brings and shares with us the indelible lessons she has learned about rage and violence. And she sings the praises of sensuality.
All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes
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ISBN: 0679457747
Pub. Date: May 1997
Format: Hardcover, 224pp
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
This is the fifth volume in Maya Angelou's successful autobiography.
All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes takes Maya to Ghana, where she joins a community of black Americans. In a vivid celebration of the sights, sounds, and feelings of Africa, Maya Angelou also explores what it means to be African-American on the mother continent, where color no longer matters, but where American-ness asserts itself in ways both puzzling and heartbreaking. Once again, she longs for home.
The Complete Collected Poems of Maya Angelou
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ISBN: 067942895X
Pub. Date: January 1994
Format: Hardcover, 288pp
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
For the first time, the complete collection of Maya Angelou's published poems-including "On the Pulse of Morning"-in a permanent collectible, handsome hardcover edition.
Sales of Maya Angelou's Wouldn't Take Nothing For My Journey Now and I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings surged dramatically after her soul-stirring reading at President Clinton's inauguration. Now, for the first time, the complete collection of her published poems is offered--in a handsome hardcover edition.
The poems incolude "Phenomenal Woman," "Still I Rise", "Weekend Glory," and "Our Grandmothers," are among the most remembered and acclaimed of Maya Angelou's poems. They celebrate women with a majesty that has inspired and touched the hearts of millions.
A beautiful gift - to keep and to give.
Phenomenal Woman: Four Poems Celebrating Women
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ISBN: 0679439242
Pub. Date: January 1994
Format: Hardcover, 22pp
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Maya Angelou, the bestselling author of On the Pulse of Morning, Wouldn't Take Nothing for My Journey Now, and other lavishly praised works, is considered one of America's finest poets. Here, four of her most highly acclaimed poems are assembled in a beautiful gift edition that provides a feast for the eyes as well as the heart.
Life Doesn't Frighten Me
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by Maya Angelou, Jean-Michel Basquiat (Illustrator)
ISBN: 1556702884
Pub. Date: February 1996
Age Range: 8 to 11
Format: Hardcover, 32pp
Publisher: Stewart, Tabori & Chang, Inc.
Presents Maya Angelou's poem illustrated by paintings and drawings of Jean-Michel Basquiat. Features biographies of both the author and artist.
Shadows on the wall
Noises down the hall
Life doesn't frighten me at all
Maya Angelou's brave, defiant poem celebrates the courage within each of us,
young and old. From the scary thought of panthers in the park to the unsettling
scene of a new classroom, fearsome images are summoned and dispelled by the
power of faith in ourselves.
Angelou's strong words are matched by the daring vision of artist Jean-Michel
Basquiat, whose childlike style reveals the powerful emotions and fanciful
imaginings of childhood. Together, Angelou's words and Basquiat's paintings
create a place where every child, indeed every person, may experience his or her
own fearlessness.
In this brilliant introduction to poetry and contemporary art, brief biographies
of Angelou and Basquiat accompany the text and artwork, focusing on the
strengths they took from their lives and brought to their work. A selected
bibliography of Angelou's books and a selected museum listing of Basquiat's
works open the door to further inspiration through the fine arts.
Complete
Collected Poems
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ISBN: 1844082237
Pub. Date:
Format: Paperback
Editors Note: Publication date
and Publisher are not clear
Publisher: Gardners Books (June 30, 2007)
Virago Press Ltd; New Ed edition (November 1, 2008)
Maya Angelou's poetry - lyrical and dramatic, exuberant and playful - speaks of love, longings, partings; of Saturday night partying and the smells and sounds of Southern cities; of freedom and shattered dreams. Of her poetry, Kirkus Reviews has written, 'It is just as much a part of her autobiography as I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Gather Together in My Name, Singin' and Swingin' and Gettin' Merry Like Christmas, and The Heart of a Woman'
Maya
Angelou: Diversity Makes for a Rich Tapestry
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written by Donna Brown Agins
ISBN: 0766024695
Pub. Date: June 2006
Format: Hardcover, 128pp
Publisher: Enslow Publishers, Incorporated
An NAACP Image Award Nominee 2006
"I speak to the black experience," says Maya Angelou, "but I am always talking about the human condition." From the child raised by her grandmother in a small village in Arkansas to the writer known as a National Treasure, Angelou has lived a remarkable life. She rose from pain and poverty to achieve success as a dancer, an actress, a teacher, an award-winning author. Readers of Donna Brown Agins's compelling new profile will understand and appreciate why Angelou is one of the best-loved and most fascinating American writers.
Age Ain't Nothing but a Number: Black Women Explore
Midlife
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Carleen Brice Editor & Contributor
ISBN: 0807028231
Number Of Pages: 252
Publication Date: May 15, 2003
Publisher: Beacon Press
"Age Ain't Nothing but a Number is my roadmap." --Iyanla Vanzant
Forty-five black women writers "known and new" discuss midlife in the first anthology of its kind.
Finally, a collection that celebrates, considers, contemplates, even criticizes "midlife" from a black woman's point of view. Age Ain't Nothing but a Number ranges over every aspect of black women's lives: personal growth, family and friendship, love and sexuality, health, beauty, illness, spirituality, creativity, financial independence, work, and scores of other topics.
Midlife today isn't your grandmother's "change of life." Today, black women call hot flashes "power surges," and menopause, the "pause that refreshes." These days, middle-aged women may be newlyweds or new mothers, as well as grandmothers or widows. They may experience the empty-nest syndrome and then the "return-to-the-nest syndrome" as adult children move back home. They may navigate the field of Internet dating, travel the world, teach homeless women, take up pottery, or study international business.
This anthology captures all of these aspects of midlife as experienced by some of the finest voices in African-American writing today. Featuring the work of Maya Angelou, J. California Cooper, Pearl Cleage, Nikki Giovanni, Susan L. Taylor, Alice Walker, and dozens of others, Age Ain't Nothing but a Number will make readers think, laugh, and cry and will be the perfect gift book for spring.
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