A poet and civil rights activist, Maya Angelou published a number of autobiographies, essay collections, and poetry collections. It is due to her unique ability to reach out to a large subset of Americans with her poetry and prose that she won countless awards.
While Angelou is known primarily for her autobiographies, her poetry has life of its own. Her poetry was often considered “anthems of African Americans”. Unfortunately, her poetry hasn’t been given quite as much credit as her prose has, but needless to say, her poetry has moved fans and critics alike. What is interesting about her poetry is that it isn’t devoid of the public ethos in which it was conceived, and there is a prominent public aspect to her poetry. Her poetry is quite often considered representative of the social landscape from which she emerges.
