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.
Angelou's autobiographies are distinct in style and narration, and "stretch over time and place", 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. Angelou wrote collections of essays, including Wouldn't Take Nothing for My Journey Now and Even the Stars Look Lonesome , which writer Hilton Als called her "wisdom books" and "homilies strung together with autobiographical texts". Angelou used the same editor throughout her writing career, Robert Loomis, an executive editor at Random House, until he retired in 2011. Angelou said regarding Loomis: "We have a relationship that's kind of famous among publishers."
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. She was a prolific writer of poetry; her volume Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'fore I Diiie was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize, and she was chosen by President Bill Clinton to recite her poem "On the Pulse of Morning" during his inauguration in 1993.
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 was the first original film script by a black woman to be produced. and she was the first African-American woman to direct a major motion picture, Down in the Delta, in 1998. Since the 1990s, Angelou participated in the lecture circuit, which she continued into her eighties.

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. New York: Random House. Gather Together in My Name. New York: Random House. Singin' and Swingin' and Gettin' Merry Like Christmas. New York: Random House. The Heart of a Woman. New York: Random House. All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes. New York: Random House. A Song Flung Up to Heaven. New York: Random House. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings: The Collected Autobiographies of Maya Angelou. New York: Modern Library. Mom & Me & Mom. New York: Random House.

Poetry

Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'fore I Diiie. New York: Random House. Oh Pray My Wings Are Gonna Fit Me Well. New York: Random House. And Still I Rise. New York: Random House. Shaker, Why Don't You Sing?. New York: Random House. Poems. New York: Random House. Now Sheba Sings the Song. New York: Plume Books. I Shall Not Be Moved. New York: Bantam Books. On the Pulse of Morning. New York: Random House. The Complete Collected Poems of Maya Angelou. New York: Random House. Phenomenal Woman: Four Poems Celebrating Women. New York: Random House. A Brave and Startling Truth. New York: Random House.

Personal essays

Wouldn't Take Nothing for My Journey Now. New York: Random House. Even the Stars Look Lonesome. New York: Random House. Letter to My Daughter. New York: Random House.

Cookbooks

Hallelujah! The Welcome Table: A Lifetime of Memories with Recipes. New York: Random House. Great Food, All Day Long: Cook Splendidly, Eat Smart. New York: Random House. ≠←

Children's books

Life Doesn't Frighten Me. New York: Stewart, Tabori & Chang. My Painted House, My Friendly Chicken and Me. New York: Knopf Books.. With photographs by Margaret Courtney-Clarke.Kofi and His Magic. New York: Knopf Books.. With photographs by Courtney-Clarke.Maya's World series. New York: Random House:

Plays

Cabaret for Freedom, with Godfrey Cambridge, 1960The Least of These, 1966The Best of These, 1966Gettin' up Stayed on My Mind, 1967Sophocles, Ajax, 1974And Still I Rise, 1976Moon on a Rainbow Shawl, 1978

Film and television

Blacks, Blues, Black!, 1968Georgia, Georgia, Sweden, 1972All Day Long, 1974

Plays and films acted in (partial list)

Porgy and Bess, 1954–1955Calypso, 1957The Blacks, 1960Mother Courage, 1964Look Away, 1973Roots, ABC, 1977Runaway, Hallmark Hall of Fame Productions, 1993

Recordings

Miss Calypso, Scamp Records, 1957For the Love of Ivy, ABC Records, 1968
  • "And So It Goes", 1988Been Found, 1996
  • "Music, Deep Rivers in My Soul", 2007

Spoken-word albums

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

Radio

Works cited

  • Gillespie, Marcia Ann, Rosa Johnson Butler, and Richard A. Long.. Maya Angelou: A Glorious Celebration. New York: Random House.