Maya Angelou: Five books in tribute
Maya Angelou was a kindred spirit. Poet, author, Grammy award winner, historian, cook, and presidential inauguration Poet Laureate when Bill Clinton was first sworn in in 1993, she embodied our voices and wrote with such wit and wisdom, and brought to the fore the stark realities of racism in her growing up years. She wrote […]
Maya Angelou was a kindred spirit. Poet, author, Grammy award winner, historian, cook, and presidential inauguration Poet Laureate when Bill Clinton was first sworn in in 1993, she embodied our voices and wrote with such wit and wisdom, and brought to the fore the stark realities of racism in her growing up years. She wrote so beautifully we all wanted to be like her. Maya left an incredible literary legacy of haunting biographies, essays, cookbooks, poetry books and prose so nimble, we aspire. Many have returned to her dark past in San Diego when as a struggling 16 year old single mother she fell in love with a pimp and fell to prostitution and became a “madam”. This cannot take away from the profundity of her body of works and the respect she garnered over the years. When she died, she left us with many thought provoking words, She asks us to try to be a rainbow in someone’s cloud, describes herself as one with an attitude for gratitude and one obliged to be clever, to dance quickly, to edgewalk. She has mesmerized us with words in her long and fulfilling writing career, cloaking them in her honeyed voice which earned her three Grammy awards for spoken poetry and prose. We will quote Maya for a long time and she will live forever in her words. Here is a collection of some of her works in tribute to a worthy literary icon.
1) The collected Autobiography of Maya Angelou to include the superbly written I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, the first of her autobiographical works. This book written in 1970 brought her acclaim and led to the writing of the next set of autobiographical books which were put together to become this collection. She captures her growing years in racist America in her inimitable poet’s gift for language and observation. Her humour is wry, almost infectious and her words grab you by the collar and pull you in. It is time for you to go out and buy the entire collection. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings has been translated into 17 languages and sold more than one million copies. A collector’s item.
2) Mom and Me and Mom chronicles the story of her extraordinary relationship with her mom. Maya was sent to go and live with her grandmother along with her brother, Bailey, when she was three and her feeling of abandonment by her mother stayed with her a long time. This book is about her reconciliation with her mom a decade later and the story of healing. This book is described by the Washington post as “an account of reconciliation…just revealing enough and pretty irresistible”
3) The Complete Collected Poems. Maya’s poetry appeals to the senses and brings the themes home without obstructing feeling by dwelling in hypha luting words. The rhythm of her poetry wash over you and you are transported to a place of relatable words. This book is highly recommended for poetry and non- poetry aficionados.
4) Hallelujah The Welcome Table. In this book Maya Angelou shows how important cooking with family and friends is and how cooking as an activity, when done in exciting groups or with a family friends or family members, provides a sense of community. When I bought this book, I laughed, I cried, I cooked, because every recipe had a story around it and just reading it told me another slice of Maya’s life, her exciting cooking resume, recipes and who her friends and family related to a particular dish are. A great book.
5) My Painted House, My Friendly Chicken and Me. This is a fetching children’s book illustrated by Margaret Courtney-Clarke. The book in full colour photos is the story of an Ndebele girl called Thandie and her mischievous brother. The book showcases Thandi’s paintings which is a showcase of the amazing murals of the Ndebele tribe of Southern Africa.
BONUS BOOKS
Indeed all her books have been an inspiration to me and I own at least half of them and would still buy more for my library. Some academics and intellectuals have described her as an African American apologist. Angelou will be discussed and remembered; she will be maligned and celebrated. All I know is that she writes beautiful books that touch us all, that speaks such wisdom to our hearts, that drives us to dream, that makes us believe, love and care some more. She has written books that make us interrogate, not in the way Cornell West does, but interrogate she does, in her own words, in a way that makes other people uncomfortable. She has also written tender books that can soften your heart, and books just for the electrifying pleasure of sounds and meaning and humanity. Here are some bonus ones for your pleasure.
Celebrations; Rituals of Peace and Prayer. Grace dignity and eloquence continue in these dazzling poetry pieces that capture all our voices in this collection.
Letter to My Daughter. Maya wrote this book for the daughter she never had about life and how to live it well with meaning.
Great Food All Day Long. An essential reference to healthy eating and a sharing, a culinary communion with Maya Angelou.