Maya Angelou Popular Books

Maya Angelou Biography & Facts

Maya Angelou ( AN-jə-loh; born Marguerite Annie Johnson; April 4, 1928 – May 28, 2014) was an American memoirist, poet, and civil rights activist. She published seven autobiographies, three books of essays, several books of poetry, and is credited with a list of plays, movies, and television shows spanning over 50 years. She received dozens of awards and more than 50 honorary degrees. Angelou's series of seven autobiographies focus on her childhood and early adult experiences. The first, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969), tells of her life up to the age of 17 and brought her international recognition and acclaim. She became a poet and writer after a string of odd jobs during her young adulthood. These included fry cook, sex worker, nightclub performer, Porgy and Bess cast member, Southern Christian Leadership Conference coordinator, and correspondent in Egypt and Ghana during the decolonization of Africa. Angelou was also an actress, writer, director, and producer of plays, movies, and public television programs. In 1982, she was named the first Reynolds Professor of American Studies at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Angelou was active in the Civil Rights Movement and worked with Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. Beginning in the 1990s, she made approximately 80 appearances a year on the lecture circuit, something she continued into her eighties. In 1993, Angelou recited her poem "On the Pulse of Morning" (1993) at the first inauguration of Bill Clinton, making her the first poet to make an inaugural recitation since Robert Frost at the inauguration of John F. Kennedy in 1961. With the publication of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Angelou publicly discussed aspects of her personal life. She was respected as a spokesperson for Black people and women, and her works have been considered a defense of Black culture. Her works are widely used in schools and universities worldwide, although attempts have been made to ban her books from some U.S. libraries. Angelou's most celebrated works have been labeled as autobiographical fiction, but many critics consider them to be autobiographies. She made a deliberate attempt to challenge the common structure of the autobiography by critiquing, changing and expanding the genre. Her books center on themes that include racism, identity, family and travel. Early life Marguerite Annie Johnson was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on April 4, 1928, the second child of Bailey Johnson, a doorman and navy dietitian, and Vivian (Baxter) Johnson, a nurse and card dealer. Angelou's older brother, Bailey Jr., nicknamed Marguerite "Maya", derived from "My" or "Mya Sister". When Angelou was three and her brother four, their parents' "calamitous marriage" ended, and their father sent them to Stamps, Arkansas, alone by train, to live with their paternal grandmother, Annie Henderson. In "an astonishing exception" to the harsh economics of African Americans of the time, Angelou's grandmother prospered financially during the Great Depression and World War II, because the general store she owned sold basic and needed commodities and because "she made wise and honest investments". Four years later, when Angelou was seven and her brother eight, the children's father "came to Stamps without warning" and returned them to their mother's care in St. Louis. At the age of eight, while living with her mother, Angelou was sexually abused and raped by her mother's boyfriend, a man named Freeman. She told her brother, who told the rest of their family. Freeman was found guilty but was jailed for only one day. Four days after his release, he was murdered, probably by Angelou's uncles. Angelou became mute for almost five years, believing she was to blame for his death; as she stated: "I thought, my voice killed him; I killed that man, because I told his name. And then I thought I would never speak again, because my voice would kill anyone." According to Marcia Ann Gillespie and her colleagues, who wrote a biography about Angelou, it was during this period of silence when Angelou developed her extraordinary memory, her love for books and literature, and her ability to listen and observe the world around her. Shortly after Freeman's murder, when Angelou was eight and her brother nine, Angelou and her brother were sent back to their grandmother. She attended the Lafayette County Training School, in Stamps, a Rosenwald School. Angelou credits a teacher and friend of her family, Mrs. Bertha Flowers, with helping her speak again, challenging her by saying: "You do not love poetry, not until you speak it." Flowers introduced her to Charles Dickens, William Shakespeare, Edgar Allan Poe, Georgia Douglas Johnson, and James Weldon Johnson, authors who would affect Angelou's life and career, as well as Black female artists such as Frances Harper, Anne Spencer, and Jessie Fauset.When Angelou was 14 and her brother 15, she and her brother moved in once again with their mother, who had since moved to Oakland, California. During World War II, Angelou attended the California Labor School. At the age of 16, she became the first Black female streetcar conductor in San Francisco. She wanted the job badly, admiring the uniforms of the operators—so much so that her mother referred to it as her "dream job". Her mother encouraged her to pursue the position, but warned her that she would need to arrive early and work harder than others. In 2014, Angelou received a lifetime achievement award from the Conference of Minority Transportation Officials as part of a session billed "Women Who Move the Nation".Three weeks after completing school, at the age of 17, she gave birth to her son, Clyde (who later changed his name to Guy Johnson). Career Adulthood and early career: 1951–1961 In 1951, Angelou married Tosh Angelos, a Greek electrician, former sailor, and aspiring musician, despite the condemnation of interracial relationships at the time and the disapproval of her mother. She took modern dance classes during this time and met dancers and choreographers Alvin Ailey and Ruth Beckford. Ailey and Angelou formed a dance team, calling themselves "Al and Rita", and performed modern dance at fraternal Black organizations throughout San Francisco but never became successful. Angelou, her new husband, and her son moved to New York City so she could study African dance with Trinidadian dancer Pearl Primus, but they returned to San Francisco a year later. After Angelou's marriage ended in 1954, she danced professionally in clubs around San Francisco, including the nightclub The Purple Onion, where she sang and danced to calypso music. Up to that point, she went by the name of "Marguerite Johnson", or "Rita", but at the strong suggestion of her managers and supporters at The Purple Onion, she changed her professional name to "Maya Angelou" (her nickname and former married surname). It was a "distinctive name" that set her apart and captured the feel of her calypso d.... Discover the Maya Angelou popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Maya Angelou books.

Best Seller Maya Angelou Books of 2024

  • The Complete Poetry synopsis, comments

    The Complete Poetry

    Maya Angelou

    The beauty and spirit of Maya Angelou’s words live on in this complete collection of poetry, including her inaugural poem “On the Pulse of Morning”Throughout her ill...

  • The Impossible Will Take a Little While synopsis, comments

    The Impossible Will Take a Little While

    Paul Rogat Loeb

    More relevant than ever, this seminal collection of essays encourages us to believe in the power of ordinary citizens to change the world In today's turbulent world it's hard not t...

  • Maya Angelou synopsis, comments

    Maya Angelou

    Lisbeth Kaiser

    In this international bestseller from the critically acclaimed Little People, BIG DREAMS series, discover the incredible life of Maya Angelou, the powerful speaker, writer, and civ...

  • I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings synopsis, comments

    I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

    Maya Angelou

    Here is a book as joyous and painful, as mysterious and memorable, as childhood itself. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings captures the longing of lonely children, the brute insult of...

  • Note to Self synopsis, comments

    Note to Self

    Gayle King

    In this New York Times bestseller, Gayle King collects her favorite inspiring letters from the popular CBS This Morning segment Note to Self, in which twentyfirst century luminarie...

  • My Journey with Maya synopsis, comments

    My Journey with Maya

    David Ritz & Tavis Smiley

    A remarkable story of friendship, love, and courage. When Maya Angelou and Tavis Smiley met in 1986, he was twentyone and she was fiftyeight. For the next twentyeight years, they s...

  • Well-Read Black Girl synopsis, comments

    Well-Read Black Girl

    Glory Edim

    NOMINATED FOR AN NAACP IMAGE AWARD  An inspiring collection of essays by black women writers, curated by the founder of the popular book club WellRead Black Girl, on the impor...

  • The Turn of the Screw synopsis, comments

    The Turn of the Screw

    Henry James

    'A most wonderful, lurid, poisonous little tale' Oscar WildeThe Turn of the Screw, James's great masterpiece of haunting atmosphere and unbearable tension, tells of a young governe...

  • What Makes the Great Great synopsis, comments

    What Makes the Great Great

    Dennis Kimbro

    Part vocational pep rally, part howto book, in What Makes the Great Great, bestselling author Dennis Kimbro explores the strategies and thought processes of successful AfricanAmeri...

  • The Coldest Winter Ever synopsis, comments

    The Coldest Winter Ever

    Sister Souljah

    Nominated as one of America’s bestloved novels by PBS’s The Great American Read.Renowned hiphop artist, writer, and activist Sister Souljah brings the streets of New York to life i...

  • The Best Maya Angelou Quotes synopsis, comments

    The Best Maya Angelou Quotes

    Crombie Jardine

    Born Marguerite Annie Johnson in St. Louis, Missouri, Maya Angelou was an exceptional AfricanAmerican woman: prolific writer, poet, actor, singer, professor, director, civil rights...

  • Phenomenal Woman synopsis, comments

    Phenomenal Woman

    Maya Angelou

    A collection of beloved poems about women from the iconic Maya AngelouThese four poems, “Phenomenal Woman,” “Still I Rise,” “Weekend Glory,” and “Our Grandmothe...

  • The Third Door synopsis, comments

    The Third Door

    Alex Banayan

    #1 INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER The largerthanlife journey of an 18yearold college freshman who set out from his dorm room to track down Bill Gates, Lady Gaga, and dozens more of the ...

  • Lies They Teach in School synopsis, comments

    Lies They Teach in School

    Herb W. Reich

    It is a cliché that history is written by the victors, but what we accept as history is replete with stories of great men and events that either never happened or didn’t happen the...

  • The Collected Autobiographies of Maya Angelou synopsis, comments

    The Collected Autobiographies of Maya Angelou

    Maya Angelou

    NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER  Maya Angelou’s classic memoirs have had an enduring impact on American literature and culture. Her life story is told in the documentary film And St...

  • I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou - A 30-minute Instaread Summary synopsis, comments

    I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou - A 30-minute Instaread Summary

    InstaRead Summaries

    This is an Instaread Summary of 'I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings' by Maya Angelou. With Instaread Summaries, you can get the summary of a book in 30 minutes or less. We read ever...

  • Rainbow in the Cloud synopsis, comments

    Rainbow in the Cloud

    Maya Angelou

    “Words mean more than what is set down on paper,” Maya Angelou wrote in her groundbreaking memoir I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Indeed, Angelou’s words have traveled the world a...

  • Gather Together in My Name synopsis, comments

    Gather Together in My Name

    Maya Angelou

    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 h...

  • Maya Angelou synopsis, comments

    Maya Angelou

    Dr. Ruth Carr

    Maya AngelouUnderstanding the Life and Teachings of A True American Author, Poet, and Civil Rights LeaderBy Dr. Ruth CarrWhen we think of poetry and writing, a few names come to mi...

  • Heart of Glass synopsis, comments

    Heart of Glass

    Wendy Lawless

    Author of the New York Times bestseller Chanel Bonfire, Wendy Lawless chronicles her twenties: the darkly funny story of a girl without a roadmap for life who leaves her disastrous...

  • For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Politics synopsis, comments

    For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Politics

    Donna Brazile, Yolanda Caraway, Leah Daughtry, Minyon Moore & Veronica Chambers

    “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Politics. It’s a wonderful, necessary book.”– Hillary ClintonThe four most powerful African American women in politics share the story of the...

  • Rock My Soul synopsis, comments

    Rock My Soul

    bell hooks

    From the late feminist icon and New York Times bestselling author of All About Love, an indepth look at one of the most critical issues facing African Americans: a collective wound...

  • 928 Maya Angelou Quotes synopsis, comments

    928 Maya Angelou Quotes

    Arthur Austen Douglas

    BIGGEST COLLECTION OF MAYA ANGELOU QUOTES Marguerite Annie Johnson alias Maya Angelou (April 4, 1928 May 28, 2014), an American author, poet and civil right activist. Angelou is ...

  • The Book of Gutsy Women synopsis, comments

    The Book of Gutsy Women

    Hillary Clinton & Chelsea Clinton

    Now an eightpart docuseries on Apple TV+ Hillary Rodham Clinton and her daughter, Chelsea, share the stories of the gutsy women who have inspired themwomen with the courage to stan...

  • Maya Angelou synopsis, comments

    Maya Angelou

    Linda Wagner-Martin

    A revised and updated edition of a comprehensive biographical and critical reading of the works of American poet and memoirist Maya Angelou (19282014). Linda WagnerMartin covers al...

  • Maya angelou synopsis, comments

    Maya angelou

    Mia Koulis

    My ibook is about Maya Angelou. It talks about her life and what she did. It also shows images and has a interview. It talks about her carer as a writer, dancer, singer, actress an...

  • The Heart of a Woman synopsis, comments

    The Heart of a Woman

    Maya Angelou

    Maya Angelou has fascinated, moved, and inspired  countless readers with the first three volumes of  her autobiography, one of the most remarkable  pe...

  • Maya Angelou synopsis, comments

    Maya Angelou

    Marcia Ann Gillespie, Rosa Johnson Butler & Richard A. Long

    Beautifully designed and featuring over 150 sepia portraits, family photographs, and letters from the life of one of the world’s most beloved and admired artists, this moving biogr...

  • Wonderworks synopsis, comments

    Wonderworks

    Angus Fletcher

    This “fascinating” (Malcolm Gladwell, New York Times bestselling author of Outliers) examination of literary inventions through the ages, from ancient Mesopotamia to Elena Ferrante...

  • Mother synopsis, comments

    Mother

    Maya Angelou

    Perfect for Mother’s Day, or for any day on which we wish to acknowledge this allimportant bond, Mother is an aweinspiring affirmation of the enduring love that exists in...

  • A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies synopsis, comments

    A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies

    Bartolome Las Casas

    Bartolomé de Las Casas was the first and fiercest critic of Spanish colonialism in the New World. An early traveller to the Americas who sailed on one of Columbus's voyages, Las Ca...

  • Maya Angelou synopsis, comments

    Maya Angelou

    Lisbeth Kaiser

    In this ebook from the critically acclaimedLittle People, BIG DREAMS series, discover the incredible life of Maya Angelou, the powerful speaker, writer and civil rights activist. M...

  • Letter to My Daughter synopsis, comments

    Letter to My Daughter

    Maya Angelou

    NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Maya Angelou shares her path to living well and with meaning in this absorbing book of personal essays.   Dedicated to the daughter she never had ...

  • Maya Angelou synopsis, comments

    Maya Angelou

    Frederick Morris

    Unbreakable Spirit delves into the extraordinary life of Maya Angelou, an acclaimed author, poet, and civil rights activist whose powerful voice continues to inspire and resonate w...

  • What I Know Now synopsis, comments

    What I Know Now

    Ellyn Spragins

    If you could send a letter back through time to your younger self, what would the letter say? In this moving collection, fortyone famous women write letters to the women they once ...

  • The Seat of the Soul synopsis, comments

    The Seat of the Soul

    Gary Zukav

    The anniversary edition of this beloved bestseller is celebrated in Prefaces by Oprah Winfrey and Maya Angelou and contains a new Foreword by the author, website links, and a new S...

  • I Shall Not Be Moved synopsis, comments

    I Shall Not Be Moved

    Maya Angelou

    In her first book of poetry since Why Don't You Sing? Maya Angelou, bestselling author of the classic autobiography I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, writes with lyri...

  • Maya Angelou synopsis, comments

    Maya Angelou

    Lisbeth Kaiser

    In this international bestseller from the critically acclaimed Little People, BIG DREAMS series, discover the incredible life of Maya Angelou, the powerful speaker, writer, and civ...

  • The Power of the Heart synopsis, comments

    The Power of the Heart

    Baptist de Pape

    With its unprecedented convocation of eighteen of the world’s greatest spiritual thinkers, writers, and scientists, including Maya Angelou, Deepak Chopra, Paulo Coelho, and Eckhart...