Maya Angelou

Maya Angelou is a poet, writer and award-winning author who is known for her much admired memoir “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” and her numerous poetry and essay collections

Maya Angelou was born on April 4, 1928, in St. Louis Missouri.  She was a writer and civil rights activist.  Her 1969 memoir, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, made literary history as the first non-fiction best seller by an African American woman. 

In 1971, Ms. Angelou published the Pulitzer Prize-nominated poetry collection “Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water “Fore I Die.”   She later wrote the poem “On the Pulse of Morning,” One of her most famous works, which she recited at President Bill Clinton’s inauguration in 1993.

Maya Angelou received several honored through her career, including two NAACP Image Awards in the outstanding literary work (nonfiction) category, in 2005 and 2009. She passed away on May 28, 2014