Maya Angelou: The Autobiographies

Six BBC Radio 4 Dramatisations

By: Maya Angelou

Narrated by: Pippa Bennett-Warner, Indie Gjesdal, full cast

Six BBC Radio 4 dramatisations of Maya Angelou's evocative, extraordinary memoirs, starring Adjoa Andoh and Pippa Bennett-Warner

The books that make up the life and times of Maya Angelou are among the most beautiful and haunting pieces of autobiography ever written. Joyous, direct and searingly honest, they run the gamut from life-affirming to tragic, and back again.

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings charts Maya’s childhood in the Deep South in the 1930s; while Gather Together In My Name recounts her descent into prostitution and narcotics. Singin’ and Swingin’ and Gettin’ Merry Like Christmas sees her forging a career in showbusiness, and in The Heart of a Woman, she moves to New York and becomes involved in civil rights. All God’s Children Need Travelling Shoes explores her time in Ghana during the 1960s, and in A Song Flung up to Heaven, she returns to America to work with Malcolm X and Martin Luther King. When tragedy strikes, her friend James Baldwin helps her out of her devastation – and new opportunities beckon for Maya.

Angelou’s memoirs have become modern classics, beloved worldwide, and these stunning dramatisations illuminate her incredible resilience, creativity and power, painting an extraordinary portrait of 20th century black America.

©2019 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2019 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Really Great!

Better than expected story with Stellar performances. Sort of a Fictional Reality - life imitating art.

That was the best books I never read. Amazing,

Using audible for this autobiography was beyond great. I was intrigued the entire time. I was excited to listen to the story of her life and learned so much. The story was so realistic I was completely immersed at all times. I laughed and cried. I truly loved it.

Esqisite and exceptional!

I loved every morsel and meaty story! I can see why Mya Angelou was so loved. She is such a decadent writer 💕

Poetic songstress & trailblazer

Loved it,
one of the first authors I fell in love with as a teen. I felt as if I walked with her on her journey of life.

I love Maya Angelou

Her life story is so amazing!! I absolutely enjoyed this audible; I didn't want the story to him.