Maya Angelou

Maya Angelou was born Marguerite Annie Johnson on 4 April 1928 in St. Louis, Missouri. Her childhood was marked by trauma — her parents separated when she was three, she was raised by her grandmother in Stamps, Arkansas, and at the age of eight she was raped by her mother's boyfriend. The trauma left her mute for five years, during which she developed an extraordinary sensitivity to language and literature.

Angelou worked in a remarkable variety of jobs before finding her voice as a writer — she was a fry cook, a prostitute, a madam, a nightclub dancer, a calypso singer, an actress and a civil rights activist who worked directly with Martin Luther King Jr and Malcolm X. Each experience fed the richness of her later writing.

In 1969, she published I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings — her autobiographical account of her childhood and young adulthood. It was the first nonfiction bestseller by a Black woman in American history. It was immediately recognised as a masterpiece and has never been out of print. It is taught in schools and universities across the world.

Angelou went on to publish six more autobiographies, three books of essays, several books of poetry and was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize and a Tony Award. In 1993, she delivered her poem 'On the Pulse of Morning' at President Bill Clinton's inauguration — only the second poet in history to do so.

Maya Angelou died on 28 May 2014 at the age of 86. She received over 50 honorary degrees, the Presidential Medal of Freedom and is regarded as one of the greatest writers and most powerful voices of the 20th century.