List of Maya Angelou works

The works of Maya Angelou encompass autobiography, plays, poetry, and teleplays. She also had an active directing, acting, and speaking career. She is best known for her books, including her series of seven autobiographies, starting with the critically acclaimed I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969).

All my work, my life, everything I do is about survival, not just bare, awful, plodding survival, but survival with grace and faith. While one may encounter many defeats, one must not be defeated.

Maya Angelou[1]

Angelou's autobiographies are distinct in style and narration, and "stretch over time and place",[2] from Arkansas to Africa and back to the US. They take place from the beginnings of World War II to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.[2] Angelou wrote collections of essays, including Wouldn't Take Nothing for My Journey Now (1993) and Even the Stars Look Lonesome (1997), which writer Hilton Als called her "wisdom books" and "homilies strung together with autobiographical texts".[3] Angelou used the same editor throughout her writing career, Robert Loomis, an executive editor at Random House, until he retired in 2011.[4] Angelou said regarding Loomis: "We have a relationship that's kind of famous among publishers."[5]

She was one of the most honored writers of her generation, earning an extended list of honors and awards, as well as more than 30 honorary degrees.[6] She was a prolific writer of poetry; her volume Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'fore I Diiie (1971) was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize,[7] and she was chosen by President Bill Clinton to recite her poem "On the Pulse of Morning" during his inauguration in 1993.[8]

Angelou's successful acting career included roles in numerous plays, films, and television programs, such as in the television mini-series Roots in 1977. Her screenplay Georgia, Georgia (1972) was the first original film script by a black woman to be produced.[9][10] and she was the first African-American woman to direct a major motion picture, Down in the Delta, in 1998.[11] Since the 1990s, Angelou participated in the lecture circuit,[8] which she continued into her eighties.[12][13]

Literature

Unless otherwise stated, the items in this list are from Gillespie et al, pp. 186–191.

Autobiographies

  • I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969). New York: Random House. ISBN 978-0-375-50789-2
  • Gather Together in My Name (1974). New York: Random House. ISBN 978-0-394-48692-5
  • Singin' and Swingin' and Gettin' Merry Like Christmas (1976). New York: Random House. ISBN 978-0-679-45777-0
  • The Heart of a Woman (1981). New York: Random House. ISBN 978-0-8129-8032-5
  • All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes (1986). New York: Random House. ISBN 978-0-679-73404-8
  • A Song Flung Up to Heaven (2002). New York: Random House. ISBN 978-0-375-50747-2
  • I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings: The Collected Autobiographies of Maya Angelou (2004). New York: Modern Library. ISBN 978-0-679-64325-8[14][15]
  • Mom & Me & Mom (2013). New York: Random House. ISBN 978-1-4000-6611-7

Poetry

Angelou reciting "On the Pulse of Morning" at Bill Clinton's presidential inauguration in 1993
Angelou with Tom Feelings, who illustrated Now Sheba Sings the Song (1987).

Personal essays

Cookbooks

Children's books

Plays

Film and television

  • Blacks, Blues, Black! (writer, producer and host – ten one-hour programs, National Education Television), 1968
  • Georgia, Georgia (writer for script and musical score), Sweden, 1972
  • All Day Long (writer/director), 1974
  • PBS documentaries (1975):
  • Who Cares About Kids & Kindred Spirits (KERA-TV, Dallas, Texas)
  • Maya Angelou: Rainbow in the Clouds (WTVS-TV, Detroit, Michigan)
  • To the Contrary (Maryland Public Television)
  • Tapestry and Circles

Plays and films acted in (partial list)

Recordings

Spoken-word albums

  • The Poetry of Maya Angelou, GWP Records, 1969
  • Women in Business, 1981
  • On the Pulse of Morning, Random House Audio, 1993[26]
  • A Song Flung Up to Heaven, Random House Audio, 2002[26]

Radio

References

Works cited

  • Gillespie, Marcia Ann, Rosa Johnson Butler, and Richard A. Long. (2008). Maya Angelou: A Glorious Celebration. New York: Random House. ISBN 978-0-385-51108-7