On May 28, 2014, the world grieved with the passing of a talented writer, in the person of Maya Angelou. Her death elicited various reactions. It led people to ponder on her creations when she was still alive. This also served as a time for many to research about different facts about Maya Angelou.
Maya Angelou was a famous poet. She was an award-winning writer who was critically acclaimed throughout her career in the industry. More so, her recognition rooted from her memoir entitled I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. She also published various collections comprised of essay and poetry.
The Basics
Maya Angelou was born on the 4th of April, 1928. She was originally from St. Louis, Missouri. She was a civil right activist aside from being a writer. Maya Angelou became well-known because of her 1969 memoir called I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. This was the time when she made history as she was dubbed the very first nonfiction best-seller ever achieved by the African-American woman.
In the year 1971, the said author published a poetry collection, Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water ‘Fore I Die. This was nominated at the Pulitzer Prize. Later on, she came up with another poem again, this time – On the Pulse of Morning. This was considered a popular work of hers. As a matter of fact, she recited it during the inauguration of President Bill Clinton. This occurred in 1993.
Career
Throughout her entire career, Angelou was able to receive various honors – one of which was the NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Literary Work. This fell under the nonfiction category. She triumphed over this twice during the year 2005, and then 2009.
Talent
Multi-talented is unlikely to embody who Maya Angelou was. The breadth and depth of her accomplishments could not be described solely with the earlier word. Aside from being the writer that she was known for, Maya Angelou was also an actress, dancer, author and screenwriter. Her real name was Marguerite Annie Johnson. She never denied that hers was quite a challenging and difficult childhood. She experienced this when her parents split up back when she was still very young. This triggered her, and her older brother named Bailey, to be sent to be with the mother of their father. They stayed with their grandmother, Anne Henderson. During that time, she was in Stamps, Arkansas.
Racial prejudices were never new to African-Americans like Angelou. She had her share of experience. She was awoken to the reality as early as 7, when she became connected to a family associate. There was also a time when she was raped. This time, by the boyfriend of her mother. To revenge, the uncles of Angelou killed the mentioned boyfriend. She was traumatized at that period of her life. That was the call for her to eventually stopped talking. There were times in Arkansas when she was a virtual mute.
Indeed, the life of Maya was not easy. It made her the brilliant poet that she was.