The first of five autobiographical volumes, evoking the author's childhood with her grandmother in the American South of the thirties, and recounting her experience of discrimination as a black, and the terrible trauma of rape by her grandfather. First published in 1984.

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (Student's Virago)

Biographies & Memoirs

Angelou, Maya.

Arts & Literature

Virago Press Ltd.

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

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 bigotry, and the wonder of words that can make the world right. Maya Angelou’s debut memoir is a modern American classic beloved worldwide. Sent by their mother to live with their devout, self-sufficient grandmother in a small Southern town, Maya and her brother, Bailey, endure the ache of abandonment and the prejudice of the local “powhitetrash.” At eight years old and back at her mother’s side in St. Louis, Maya is attacked by a man many times her age—and has to live with the consequences for a lifetime. Years later, in San Francisco, Maya learns that love for herself, the kindness of others, her own strong spirit, and the ideas of great authors (“I met and fell in love with William Shakespeare”) will allow her to be free instead of imprisoned. Poetic and powerful, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings will touch hearts and change minds for as long as people read. “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings liberates the reader into life simply because Maya Angelou confronts her own life with such a moving wonder, such a luminous dignity.”—James Baldwin

Ballantine Books

Throughout her illustrious career in letters, Maya Angelou gifted, healed, and inspired the world with her words. Now the beauty and spirit of those words live on in this new and complete collection of poetry that reflects and honors the writer’s remarkable life.   Every poetic phrase, every poignant verse can be found within the pages of this sure-to-be-treasured volume—from her reflections on African American life and hardship in the compilation Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water ’fore I Diiie (“Though there’s one thing that I cry for / I believe enough to die for / That is every man’s responsibility to man”) to her revolutionary celebrations of womanhood in the poem “Still I Rise” (“Out of the huts of history’s shame / I rise / Up from a past that’s rooted in pain / I rise”) to her “On the Pulse of Morning” tribute at President William Jefferson Clinton’s inauguration (“Lift up your eyes upon / The day breaking for you. / Give birth again / To the dream.”).   Maya Angelou: The Complete Poetry also features her final long-form poems, including “A Brave and Startling Truth,” “Amazing Peace,” “His Day Is Done,” and the honest and endearing Mother:   “I feared if I let you go You would leave me eternally. You smiled at my fears, saying I could not stay in your lap forever”  This collection also includes the never-before-published poem “Amazement Awaits,” commissioned for the 2008 Olympic Games:   “We are here at the portal of the world we had wished for At the lintel of the world we most need. We are here roaring and singing. We prove that we can not only make peace, we can bring it with us.”   Timeless and prescient, this definitive compendium will warm the hearts of Maya Angelou’s most ardent admirers as it introduces new readers to the legendary poet, activist, and teacher—a phenomenal woman for the ages.

Maya Angelou The Complete Poetry

Hachette

A Song Flung Up to Heaven

virago press uk

Listen to Maya Angelou read more than 100 of her best loved poems - for the first time in one collection."As good as Angelou's books are, you just have to hear her." - Philadelphia InquirerJust Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'fore I Diiie(30 minutes, 27 poems)James Baldwin called Maya Angelou's first collection of poems "Black, bitter, and beautiful. [Maya Angelou] speaks of our survival. Sister Maya has been there and back, she knows something about herself and she knows something about us . . ."Oh Pray My Wings Are Gonna Fit Me Well(35 minutes, 36 poems)The poems in this second volume of Maya Angelou's poetry are eloquent evidence of the poet's continuing celebration of life. Here are poems of love and memory, poems of racial confrontation, poems of misplaced patriotism, songs of the street and songs of the heart.I Shall Not Be Moved(40 minutes, 32 poems)A wonderful collection of poems includ

The Maya Angelou Poetry Collection

Literature & Fiction

Poetry

Random House Audio |

These new poems are powerful, distinctive and as always, full of lifting rhythms of love and remembering. From the Hardcover edition.

And Still I Rise: A Selection of Poems Read by the Author

Dramas & Plays

Even the Stars Look Lonesome

Community & Culture

Maya Angelou, one of the best-loved authors of our time, shares the wisdom of a remarkable life in this best-selling spiritual classic. This is Maya Angelou talking from the heart, down to earth and real, but also inspiring. This is a book to treasured, a book about being in all ways a woman, about living well, about the power of the word, and about the power do spirituality to move and shape your life. Passionate, lively, and lyrical, Maya Angelou's latest unforgettable work offers a gem of truth on every page.

Wouldn't Take Nothing For My Journey Now

Maya Angelou Poetry Collection

The Heart of a Woman

Random House Audio Voices

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Books by Angelou, Maya.