"Phenomenal Woman," which is the title of one Maya Angelou's better known poems, does not even begin to describe the voice that will resonate through Popejoy Hall Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.
Such praise for Angelou isn't a revelation for Albuquerque residents, who quickly snapped up tickets to the already sold-out event.
The internationally renowned poet, educator, historian, best-selling author, actress, playwright, civil rights activist, lecturer, producer and director will deliver the first installment of 21st Century Speaker Series. The series is funded in part by the University's Board of Regents.
Angelou was born in St. Louis, Miss., in 1928 as Marguerite Johnson. She moved to rural Stamps, Ark., to be with her grandmother after her grandparents separated. When she returned to St. Louis in the mid-1930s, she was molested by her mother's boyfriend. In the aftermath of the trauma, 8-year-old Maya was mute and rarely spoke for several years.
At 17, she had her only child, Guy. A few years later when her grandmother died, the grief sent her reeling. It was then that Maya had a revelation - she would live life - fully.
Angelou has achieved her goal in every way imaginable.
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She has written more than 20 books and once had three titles - "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings," "The Heart of a Woman" and "Even the Stars Look Lonesome Tonight" - on The New York Times bestseller list simultaneously for six consecutive weeks.
In 1993, at the request of President Clinton, she became the first poet since Robert Frost in 1961 to write and recite a poem at a presidential inauguration.
Angelou, who speaks French, Spanish, Italian and West African Fanti, began her career in drama and dance. She married a South African freedom fighter and lived in Cairo, where she was the editor of the The Arab Observer, the only English-language weekly newspaper in the Middle East.
In Ghana, she was feature editor of The African Review and taught at the University of Ghana.
During the 1960s, at the request of Dr. Martin Luther King, Angelou was appointed the northern coordinator of for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. She was appointed by President Gerald Ford to the Bicentennial Commission and by President Jimmy Carter to the National Commission on the Observance of International Women's Year.
Angelou has been delivering lectures since 1981 and is the Reynolds Professor of American Studies at Wake Forrest University in North Carolina. She has published 10 best-selling books and numerous magazine articles earning her a Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award Nominations.
While Angelou is an outstanding author, her work truly comes to life when she indulges us all and recites it for the world to hear.
Staff Report
