Poets & Writers Theater

“It is the Glad Season / Thunder ebbs to silence and lightning sleeps quietly in the corner.” At the annual White House Christmas celebration in 2005, the late Maya Angelou reads a poem written for the holiday and in the spirit of peace.

In this video, Nikki Giovanni and Renée Watson speak about their love of libraries, the writers who have influenced them, and Maya’s Song (HarperCollins, 2022), a picture book for young readers about the life and work of Maya Angelou written by Watson and illustrated by Bryan Collier.

“I wanted to continue to participate in that tradition of hope-making in every single poem that I wrote,” says Amanda Gorman about frequently listening to Maya Angelou’s inaugural poem “On the Pulse of Morning” in this conversation with Oprah Winfrey for Apple TV Plus.

“There is the nobleness of the human spirit, despite it all.” In this video, the late Maya Angelou introduces and recites her poem “Still I Rise.”

In this 92Y video, artist Shantell Martin creates a live performance illustration inspired by a speech Maya Angelou delivered at the 92Y’s Kaufmann Concert Hall in 1971.

“Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.” In this SuperSoul Sunday video from 2013, poet, teacher, and activist Maya Angelou recites her inspirational and engaging poem “Phenomenal Woman.”

“Lift up your eyes upon / This day breaking for you. / Give birth again / To the dream,” reads Maya Angelou from her poem “On the Pulse of the Morning” for the 1993 presidential inauguration of Bill Clinton.

Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise, a documentary directed by Bob Hercules and Rita Coburn Whack, celebrates Maya Angelou with rare interviews, home movies and videos, and archival photographs that offer an intimate glimpse into her life.

“Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave, / I am the dream and the hope of the slave. / I rise / I rise / I rise.” In a BBC video montage, Wimbledon champion Serena Williams reads empowering lines from Maya Angelou’s poem “Still I Rise” from her collection And Still I Rise (Random House, 1978).

“This is not a rehearsal. This is your life.” Maya Angelou is the author of more than thirty books, including her influential memoir of the Jim Crow South, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. She received numerous awards throughout her lifetime, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which was presented to her by President Obama in 2011. Angelou died at the age of eighty-six in 2014. A rare figure whose work was both scholarly and accessible, Angelou was undeniably inspiring.

In this clip, the poet, author, and civil-rights activist open up about her childhood as part of an episode of Oprah Presents Master Class, which originally aired in January 2011.