NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Hailed as one of the great voices in contemporary literature, Maya Angelou has worn many hats – poet, bestselling author, actress, historian, playwright, civil rights activist, producer and director – and she will share her experiences Monday, Feb. 27, at a public lecture at Vanderbilt University’s Memorial Gym.
Tickets for the 7:30 p.m. event are available beginning Saturday, Jan. 21. Public tickets are available for $10 and $20 through Ticketmaster or the box office at Vanderbilt’s Sarratt Student Center. Non-Vanderbilt students with their college or university identification cards may purchase tickets for $5 at the Sarratt Student Center’s box office or any Ticketmaster outlet. Tickets are free to Vanderbilt students, faculty and staff and must be picked up in advance at the Sarratt Student Center box office. Only one free ticket may be picked up per person with Vanderbilt identification card. Members of the Vanderbilt community may be seated with up to four paying guests. For more information, call 615-322-2471.
Born Marguerite Johnson in St. Louis, Mo., in 1928, Angelou is one of the world’s most prolific writers and is best known for her autobiographical works – I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Gather Together in My Name, Singin’ and Swingin’ and Gettin’ Merry Like Christmas, The Heart of a Woman and All God’s Children Need Traveling Shoes.
Her 2002 autobiography, A Song Flung Up To Heaven, completes six volumes of autobiography that began with I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings published in 1969.
Her most recent book Hallelujah! The Welcome Table: A Lifetime of Memories with Recipes was published in 2004.
In 1995, Bantam Books congratulated Angelou for being the first African American to have the longest run (two years) on The New York Times Paperback Nonfiction Bestseller List.
Among her volumes of poetry are A Brave and Startling Truth and Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water ‘fore I Diiie, which was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. In 1993, at the request of President Bill Clinton she wrote and delivered the poem “On The Pulse of the Morning” at his inauguration.
Twice nominated for a Tony award for her performance in Roots and her Broadway debut in Look Away, Angelou was also the first black woman director in Hollywood. She has written, produced, directed and acted in productions for stage, film and television. She wrote the original screenplay and musical score for the film Georgia, Georgia and was author and executive producer of a five-part television miniseries Three Way Choice.
Angelou has devoted her creative talents to addressing social issues as well. In 1959, at the request of Martin Luther King Jr., she became the northern coordinator for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. She also served from 1961 to 1962 as associate editor of The Arab Observer in Cairo, Egypt, the only English-language news weekly in the Middle East at the time, and as feature editor of the African Review in Accra, Ghana, from 1964 to 1966. President Gerald Ford appointed her to the Bicentennial Commission and later President Jimmy Carter tapped her for the Commission for the International Woman of the Year.
She has a lifetime appointment as Reynolds Professor of American Studies at Wake Forest University.
Angelou’s lecture is sponsored by several campus organizations including the Vanderbilt University Speakers Committee, Bishop Joseph Johnson Black Cultural Center, Office of Leadership Development and Intercultural Affairs, Office of Community, Neighborhood and Government Relations, Vanderbilt University Bookstore, Margaret Cuninggim Women’s Center, Student Government Association, Interhall, Jean and Alexander Heard Library, Women’s and Gender Studies Program and the African American and Diaspora Studies Program. Community organizations the Music City Chapter of Links, Inc. and the Nashville chapter of National Hook-Up of Black Women Inc. are also sponsors.
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Media Contact: Princine Lewis, 615-322-NEWS
princine.l.lewis@vanderbilt.edu