NLS Minibibliographies

Maya Angelou: Author and Poet

Content last modified March 1993

Introduction

Maya Angelou is an award winning poet, playwright, professor, theatrical producer, performer, and singer. Her honesty, strength, spirituality, and deep sense of personal pride enable Maya Angelou to write powerfully about her very complex life. These autobiographical books include memories of her childhood, her experiences as a teenage mother, her struggle to break into show business, and her political activism.

Maya Angelou's audience was appreciably widened when she read at the request of President-elect Clinton for his first inauguration.

In addition to her collections of poetry, this minibibliography lists her autobiographical works in the order in which they were written. All books are available from NLS network library collections.

Autobiographical Books

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

An autobiography of the childhood and adolescence of a black girl in rural Arkansas, St. Louis, and San Francisco. She becomes a strong and sensitive young woman who has endured and overcome many horrors in life. 1970

RC 24959

BRA 15299

Gather Together in My Name

A continuation of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, this memoir begins at the end of World War II. Angelou goes from job to job and man to man. She tries to return to Arkansas but discovers she is no longer a part of that world. Explicit descriptions of sex. 1974

RC 8719

BRA 16708

Singin' and Swingin' and Gettin' Merry Like Christmas

Angelou covers the years of her twenties when she developed her first meaningful relationships with whites, had a short-lived marriage to a Greek sailor, and began her theatrical career. Some strong language. 1976

RD 10251

The Heart of a Woman

The author continues her autobiography into the early 1960s--a period that finds Angelou heavily involved in civil rights. She recalls black activists Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, and James Baldwin, and also recounts the details of her affair with South African freedom fighter Make. Strong language. Bestseller 1981.

RC 17325

FD 17325

All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes

The author recalls her pilgrimage to Ghana in the early 1960s. Angelou went there so that her son could study at the University of Ghana and to put him and herself in touch with long-imagined ancestral roots. She is disillusioned and saddened at their subtle rejection by native Ghanaians. Some strong language. 1986

RC 25432

Poetry Books

Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'fore I Diiie

A rich collection of joyful, poignant, proud poems by the African-American author known for her autobiographical writings. 1977

BR 3408

And Still I Rise

Angelou celebrates life, love, and womanhood in this collection of verse. 1978

RC 12970

I Shall Not Be Moved

A collection of Angelou's poetry on the joys and pathos, pains and triumphs of African-American life. 1990

BR 8559

Compiled by C. Beverly McClellan
Revised by Joyce Y. Carter

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Posted on 2006-02-24