Maya Angelou

Maya Angelou

Born on April 4 1928, Marguerite Annie Johnson, commonly known as Maya Angelou was a civil rights activist, American poet, storyteller, autobiographer as well as a memoirist. A lady of hard work and sheer determination, she became Hollywood’s first female director as well as the author of the best selling autobiography, ‘I know why the caged bird sings’. Having encountered a rough childhood, Maya Angelou developed an interest for language during a time in her life when she was traumatized to the extent of not speaking anything. Before earning fame, she did a number of odd jobs ranging from a fry cook to a cable car conductor. Angelou is well-known for her poems showcasing strength of women, Black beauty and social justice. Having awarded over 50 honorary degrees, Maya Angelou is an inspiration for women all over the world to be comfortable in their own skin and as their own unique and beautiful self. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Conrad Aiken

Image
CONRAD AIKEN Born on August 5 1889 in the country of Georgia, Conrad Potter Aiken was an American poet, short story writer, critic and writer. Having suffered a rough childhood, Aiken lost his parents at a young age of 11 when his father murdered his wife and then committed suicide himself. The horrified boy was utterly traumatized by this incident and much of his work in the field of philosophy was influenced by this episode. The orphaned boy was raised by his great-aunt and uncle in Massachusetts. A student of Harvard University, Aiken co-edited the 'Advocate' with his friend and colleague, T.S. Eliot. Along with this, Aiken also studied under the famous influencer, George Santayana. Strongly influenced by symbolism, his writings were philosophical with strong thoughts running through them. Aiken received the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for his Selected Poems in 1930. His autobiography, titled 'Ushant' was published in 1952. Some of his famous works include 'Earth T...
Read more

Ralph Angel

Image
RALPH ANGEL  Born in 1951 in the city of Washington, Ralph Angel was an utterly famous American poet and educator. A man of Sephardic Jewish descent, Ralph completed his early education in Seattle and earned his Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of Washington while working for the Union Pacific Railroad. Besides this, Angel also received a Master of Fine Arts degree at the University of California, Irvine. In the afterword to his translation of the Federico Garcia Lorca collection, Poema del cante jondo, Angel stated that he comes from a household of three languages, namely English, Hebrew and Ladino, one of which he could understand but not speak, one which he could sing but not understand and the other which was the language of his country. His poetry is set in a historical urban landscape. Some of his famous works include 'Your Moon', 'Exceptions and Melancholies: Poems 1986-2006', 'Twice Removed', 'In every direction' and 'Sampling'. ...
Read more

John Keats

Image
JOHN KEATS Born on 31 October 1795, John Keats was an English romantic poet. He earned fame after his death and became one of the best known English poets in the history of mankind. Although Keats published only 54 of his poems, his work had a deep impact on people due to the variety of styles and structures used by him. His verses ranged from sonnets to the Spenserian romance to the Miltonic epic. As a child, Keats had a volatile personality. However at the age of 13, Keats began working on his passion of writing and composing. His hard work and perseverance paid off when he won his first academic award in summer 1809. His poems often used literary devices to create a beautiful and sensual imagery in the reader's mind. Having gone through a rough childhood, Keats lost his parents at an early age and this had a profound impact on the young boy's mind. It developed his apprehension and grasp of human suffering and loss. Around the time of his mother's death, Keats started fi...
Read more