Maya Angelou: Biography and Poem “Still I Rise”

Read the biography of Maya Angelou. Listen to the recital of the poem and reflect on how the poem and its structure affects you as a reader in the activity below.

Maya Angelou was an American poet, memoirist, actress and an important figure in the American Civil Rights Movement. Angelou is known for her series of six autobiographies, starting with I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969), which was nominated for a National Book Award and called her magnum opus.

Her volume of poetry, Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water ‘Fore I Diiie (1971) was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize.

Angelou recited her poem, “On the Pulse of Morning” at President Bill Clinton’s inauguration in 1993, the first poet to make an inaugural recitation since Robert Frost at John F. Kennedy’s inauguration in 1961. She was highly honored for her body of work, including being awarded over 30 honorary degrees.

Angelou’s first book, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sing, describes her early life and her experience of confronting racism, a central feature of her work. She used the caged bird as a metaphor for the imprisoning nature of racial bigotry on her life.

At the time of her death, tributes to Angelou and condolences were paid by artists, entertainers and world leaders, including President Barack Obama, whose sister had been named after Angelou, and former President Bill Clinton. Harold Augenbraum, from the National Book Foundation, said that Angelou’s “legacy is one that all writers and readers across the world can admire and aspire to.”

Attribution & References

Except where otherwise noted, this section is adapted from “43 Poetry Anthology” In The Worry Free Writer by Dr. Karen Palmer, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. /Adaptations include changing the YouTube Still I Rise video and the removal of information on the following authors : Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Robert Browning, Stephen Crane, Emily Dickinson, T. S. Eliot, Robert Frost, Joy Harjo, Langston Hughes, Marge Piercy, Sylvia Plath, Alberto Rios, Edna St. Vincent Millay, May Swenson, Dylan Thomas, and Walt Whitman.