Maya Angelou

Maya Angelou’s Childhood

Maya Angelou was born in St. Louis, Missouri, with the given name Marguerite Johnson. Her parents divorced when she was a young child, so Angelou and her brother went to live in Stamps, Arkansas with their paternal grandmother. After Angelou and her brother returned to St. Louis to live with their mother, Angelou was raped by her mother’s boyfriend when she was seven-years old. As a result, she went through a period where she refused to speak. Angelou and her brother returned to Stamps to live with their grandmother.

In the 1950s, Angelou worked as a dancer in the production of Porgy and Bess, which toured to 22 countries throughout Europe and Asia. In the late 1950s she moved to New York where she appeared in the off Broadway play, Calypso Heatwave (1957).

Maya Angelou’s Writing Career

In 1970, Angelou published her first book, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, which chronicled the first seventeen years of her life. The book received critical acclaim, and was nominated for a National Book Award. She wrote four other autobiographical books: Gather Together in My Name (1974), Singin’ and Swingin’ and Getting’ Merry Like Christmas (1976), The Heart of a Woman (1981), and All God’s Children Need Traveling Shoes (1986).

Critical Acclaim for Maya Angelou

Besides writing books, Angelou continued performing. For her performance in Look Away (1975), she was nominated for a Tony Award, and she received an Emmy nomination for her role in Alex Haley’s miniseries Roots (1977).

Angelou has also received critical acclaim for her poetry. In 1971, she was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for her collection, Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water ‘fore I Diiie. Her other published poetry includes, And Still I Rise (1978), Now Sheba Sings the Song (1987), and I Shall Not Be Moved (1990).

Angelou has received 50 honorary degrees from various colleges. In 1981, she was appointed as a professor of American Studies at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.