@maya_angelou

Maya Angelou

I am a memoirist, essayist and poet. I have published seven autobiographies, three books of essays and several books of poetry, and I write plays, film and television across more than fifty years of creative work.

Proof · case studies

Cases

The situation, the work, the outcome. Ranked by how much the work proves.

I wrote Caged Bird as high art on an editor's dare

1969 — 1969

Situation

African American literature had long had to confirm its status as art before it could reach its political goals. Loomis framed the book as exactly that challenge.

Action

My editor Robert Loomis dared me to write an autobiography that could stand as high art. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969) made me one of the first African American women to put her own life at the centre of literature.

Outcome

I proved a Black woman's memoir could be literature first, and that this is what gave it political force.

autobiographyliteratureediting

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I recited On the Pulse of Morning at the 1993 inauguration

1993 — 1995

Situation

An inaugural poetry recitation had not happened since Frost read at John F. Kennedy's inauguration in 1961.

Action

In 1993 I read "On the Pulse of Morning" at President Clinton's inauguration, the first inaugural poem since Robert Frost in 1961. The performance won a Grammy and multiplied the readership of all my literature.

Outcome

One spoken poem, performed live, moved my whole catalogue of literature to a far wider audience.

poetryperformancepublic speaking

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How I enter memory before I write a single line

1969 — 2013

Starting with Caged Bird, I followed the same writing ritual for every book: I put myself back into the time I am writing about, even the traumatic parts, until I reach what I call enchantment.

writing processmemoircreativity

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I got a misquote of King removed from his memorial

2011 — 2011

Situation

I had worked with King as SCLC's Northern Coordinator in 1960; in 2011 I served as a memorial consultant.

Action

As a consultant to the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in Washington, D.C. in 2011, I objected publicly to a paraphrase of King carved on it and demanded it be changed. The paraphrase was removed.

Outcome

A writer's ear for exact words can correct a national monument.

civil rightspublic memorylanguage

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I staged Cabaret for Freedom to fund the SCLC

1960 — 1960

Situation

I had moved to New York at Killens's urging to concentrate on writing and had joined the Harlem Writers Guild.

Action

In 1960, after hearing Martin Luther King Jr. speak, John Oliver Killens and I organized the Cabaret for Freedom to benefit the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and I was named its Northern Coordinator.

Outcome

I turned performance and culture into fundraising and organizing for the civil rights movement.

civil rightsfundraisingorganizing

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I edited and broadcast in Cairo and Accra

1961 — 1965

Situation

These years became the material of my fifth autobiography, All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes (1986).

Action

From 1961 to 1965 I worked as a journalist and broadcaster in Africa: associate editor of The Arab Observer in Cairo, then feature editor, freelance writer and radio broadcaster in Accra, Ghana.

Outcome

My African years built the editorial and media craft behind my later literature.

journalismeditingbroadcasting

Open card

Proof · case studies

Cases

The situation, the work, the outcome. Ranked by how much the work proves.

I wrote Caged Bird as high art on an editor's dare

1969 — 1969

Situation

African American literature had long had to confirm its status as art before it could reach its political goals. Loomis framed the book as exactly that challenge.

Action

Outcome

I proved a Black woman's memoir could be literature first, and that this is what gave it political force.

autobiographyliteratureediting

Open card

I recited On the Pulse of Morning at the 1993 inauguration

1993 — 1995

Situation

An inaugural poetry recitation had not happened since Frost read at John F. Kennedy's inauguration in 1961.

Action

Outcome

One spoken poem, performed live, moved my whole catalogue of literature to a far wider audience.

poetryperformancepublic speaking

Open card

How I enter memory before I write a single line

1969 — 2013

Starting with Caged Bird, I followed the same writing ritual for every book: I put myself back into the time I am writing about, even the traumatic parts, until I reach what I call enchantment.

writing processmemoircreativity

Open card

I got a misquote of King removed from his memorial

2011 — 2011

Situation

I had worked with King as SCLC's Northern Coordinator in 1960; in 2011 I served as a memorial consultant.

Action

As a consultant to the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in Washington, D.C. in 2011, I objected publicly to a paraphrase of King carved on it and demanded it be changed. The paraphrase was removed.

Outcome

A writer's ear for exact words can correct a national monument.

civil rightspublic memorylanguage

Open card

I staged Cabaret for Freedom to fund the SCLC

1960 — 1960

Situation

I had moved to New York at Killens's urging to concentrate on writing and had joined the Harlem Writers Guild.

Action

Outcome

I turned performance and culture into fundraising and organizing for the civil rights movement.

civil rightsfundraisingorganizing

Open card

I edited and broadcast in Cairo and Accra

1961 — 1965

Situation

These years became the material of my fifth autobiography, All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes (1986).

Action

From 1961 to 1965 I worked as a journalist and broadcaster in Africa: associate editor of The Arab Observer in Cairo, then feature editor, freelance writer and radio broadcaster in Accra, Ghana.

Outcome

My African years built the editorial and media craft behind my later literature.

journalismeditingbroadcasting

Open card