Maya Angelou

1928–2014 · United States

Poetry built for the voice and the room it is spoken in.

Angelou worked as a dancer, journalist and civil rights coordinator before I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings made her one of the most widely read American writers.

Her poetry was written to be performed. Recordings of her own readings are, in effect, part of the text.

Style

Refrains that function as chants an audience can join.
Direct address to an antagonist or a community.
Blues and spiritual rhythms carried into printed verse.