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IU to host an evening with Maya Angelou on April 11
April 3, 2001
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Maya Angelou, one of America's greatest voices of contemporary literature, will speak at the Indiana University Auditorium on April 11 at 7 p.m. CDT in a lecture presented by the Indiana Memorial Union Board and the Indiana Lectures Series.
Angelou, a renowned poet, author, actress and playwright, was the first African American woman to speak at a presidential inauguration when she read a poem as part of the ceremonies for President Bill Clinton in January 1993.
Angelou has been a ground-breaker in the film industry. Her screenplay, Georgia, Georgia, was the first original work by an African American woman to be produced. For 20th Century Fox Television she wrote and produced Sister, Sister, the company's first full-length production.
She has made hundreds of television appearances on shows such as Sesame Street and Touched by an Angel. She earned an Emmy nomination for her supporting role in the 1977 production of Roots.
Her successes are not limited to the screen. In the 1960s, at the request of Martin Luther King Jr., Angelou was made northern coordinator for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. President Gerald Ford later appointed her to the Bicentennial Commission, and she served on President Jimmy Carter's National Commission on the Observance of International Women's Year.
Angelou has authored a number of best-selling books of poetry and prose including I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'Fore I Die.
The event is free, but a ticket is required for admittance. Tickets will be made available to IU students, faculty and staff at the Indiana Memorial Union's Activities Desk and the IU Auditorium Box Office beginning Thursday (April 5) at 10 a.m. There is a limit of one ticket per ID, and four IDs per person. Remaining tickets will be available to the general public at the same locations starting Monday (April 9) at 10 a.m.
(Kevin A. Gray, 812-856-5682, keagray@indiana.edu)