MAYA ANGELOU

Born April 8, 1928 in St. Louis, MO, Ms. Angelou is a celebrated author, playwright, professional stage and screen producer, director, performer and singer and has enjoyed a lifetime appointment as First Reynolds Professor of American Studies at Wake Forest University since 1981. Nominated for National Book Award for I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1970), she earned a Pulitzer Nomination for Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'fore I Diiie (1972) and a Tony Award Nomination for her performance in Look Away, 1973. She is also the author of Phenomenal Woman, a book of poetry. "Maya Angelou writes like a song, and like the truth. The wisdom, rue and humor of her storytelling are borne on a lilting rhythm completely her own, the product of a born writer's senses nourished on black church singing and preaching, soft mother talk and salty street talk...." (Anne Gottlieb, New York Times Book Review). Says Ms. Angelou: "Poetry is really closer to our hearts and our tongues than we admit. But we employ poetry at critical moments in our lives.... It is so close to us, and it allows us to describe ourselves at our most profound and our most elemental" (in USA Today, January 18, 1993). "I try to write about the issues I do with humor...because if you don't laugh, you'll die. You'll just shrivel up on the vine. I try to write about opposing gravity by getting up again and again, no matter what knocks you down." Ms. Angelou resides in Boston, MA.