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THE LIFE OF THE AUTHOR MAYA ANGELOU
DISCOVER THE REMARKABLE LIFE OF MAYA ANGELOU WITH A HIGHLY PERSONAL AND DETAILED ACCOUNT OF HER CHALLENGES AND TRIUMPHS
The Life of the Author: Maya Angelou delivers an engaging and thorough retelling of the life and work of the celebrated and accomplished writer, director, and essayist. The book offers readers an engrossing retelling of Maya Angelou's entire life, from her time as a child in the segregated town of Stamps, Arkansas, to her death in 2014 in Winston-Salem.
Written with an emphasis on accessibility, the author avoids critical theory and focuses on Maya Angelou's growth as a person and writer as well as the ways in which her life influenced her work. This new biography tells the story of a young black woman who overcomes poverty and endemic structural and personal obstacles to lead an accomplished life.
Readers will also enjoy:
* A thorough retelling of the time Maya Angelou spent in Africa and how it shaped her views and work
* An exploration of the screenplays written by Maya Angelou
* Discussions of Maya Angelou's early life as a dancer, singer, and writer
* Accounts of Maya Angelou's writing and production of television shows
* A fulsome treatment of Maya Angelou's work, including her poems, autobiographies, films, music, and theatre
Perfect for undergraduate students in Contemporary Literature courses as well as general readers who love Maya Angelou and her work, The Life of the Author: Maya Angelou will also earn a place in the libraries of biography and literature enthusiasts who seek to improve their understanding of the life and story of Maya Angelou with a highly personal and accessible new book.
List of contents
Acknowledgments vii
List of Illustrations viii
1 "There is Always an Engine, Maya" 1
2 St. Louis and Fear 13
3 Recovery in Arkansas 23
4 More Changes 35
5 Mothering 44
6 Performing 57
7 Writing 69
8 In Africa 83
9 Real-life Politics 94
10 Angelou as Autobiographer 104
11 "'Testing the Ledge': Screenplays and Directing" 116
12 Mrs. Paul Du Feu 128
13 Returning to the South 139
14 "On the Pulse of Morning" 149
15 The Prestige Years 161
16 The Last Years 168
Afterword 175
Notes for Maya Angelou, a Life 176
Bibliography 189
Index (Angelou) 195
About the author
Linda Wagner-Martin is Frank Borden Hanes Professor of English and Comparative Literature emerita at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill in the United States. She has published over 75 books, including
Hemingway's Wars: The Public and Private Battles and
The Routledge Introduction to American Modernism.
