Writer and activist Maya Angelou dies aged 86

Officials at the city of Winston-Salem mayor’s office confirmed that the acclaimed writer and poet had passed away on Wednesday, after a period of poor health.

Angelou’s 1969 memoir I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings was a landmark in US literature, and was followed by six more autobiographies that told the story of the early years of her extraordinary life: from being abused as a child, to working as a singer, waitress and prostitute, to becoming one of America’s most celebrated writers and a prominent political activist.

The world knows her as a poet but at the heart of her, she was a teacher Oprah Winfrey

In 2013, she told an audience in New York: “A black girl from a little village in Arkansas, smaller than this little town here, this little village, imagine it. Now considered one of the most important writers. Imagine.”

Her stories, poems and plays were celebrated for their passionate portrayal of issues surrounding race and gender, as experienced by millions of Americans. She was also active in the civil rights movement, and worked alongside Martin Luther King and Malcolm X.

Barack Obama paid tribute to Dr Angelou and said on Wednesday that his sister, Maya, was named after the author, whom he called “a brilliant writer, a fierce friend and a truly phenomenal woman.”

He added: “A childhood of suffering and abuse actually drove her to stop speaking – but the voice she found helped generations of Americans find their rainbow amidst the clouds, and inspired the rest of us to be our best selves.”

Read more: My friend Maya Angelou, America’s great warrior – by Jon Snow

Angelou was the author of many poetry collections, including the inspirational 1978 poem And Still I Rise, and she said that writing poetry was her favourite discpline: “I love to work in poetry. It takes me over completely.”

In 1993 Angelou read one of her poems, On the Pulse of the Morning, at Bill Clinton’s inauguration (see video above) and in 2011, she was presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Obama.

Her last tweet, posted on 23 May, read: “Listen to yourself and in that quietude you might hear the voice of God.”

Oprah Winfrey told Channel 4 News in a statement: “I’ve been blessed to have Maya Angelou as my mentor, mother/sister, and friend since my 20s. She was there for me always, guiding me through some of the most important years of my life. The world knows her as a poet but at the heart of her, she was a teacher. ‘When you learn, teach. When you get, give’ is one of my best lessons from her.

“She won three Grammys, spoke six languages and was the second poet in history to recite a poem at a presidential inauguration. But what stands out to me most about Maya Angelou is not what she has done or written or spoken, it’s how she lived her life.”

Listen to yourself and in that quietude you might hear the voice of God.

— Maya Angelou (@DrMayaAngelou) May 23, 2014