The American poet and writer Maya Angelou has died at her home in North Carolina at the age of 86. A statement from Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, where she had served as a professor of American studies since 1982, called Angelou "a national treasure whose life and teachings inspired millions around the world". In 1993, she recited her poem ‘On the Pulse of Morning’ at the inauguration of President Bill Clinton, the first poet to make an inaugural recitation since Robert Frost at John F Kennedy's inauguration in 1961. She had reportedly been in bad health and had cancelled recent scheduled appearances.

Angelou was born Marguerite Annie Johnson, in St Louis, Missouri, in 1928. She grew up in the segregated south, survived a childhood rape, gave birth as a teenager, and was, at one time, a prostitute. Although she is best known for her seven autobiographies, she was also been a prolific and successful poet, and has been called "the black woman's poet laureate". The civil rights campaigner's honours included a Pulitzer Prize nomination for her book of poetry, Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'fore I Diiie. Angelou studied and began writing poetry at a young age, and used it to cope with her rape as a young girl, as described in her most well-known autobiographical work, I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings. On the evening of her death on Thursday 28 May, Channel 4 News ended its bulletin with film of Maya Angelou reciting her poem 'Still I Rise': 

PHOTOGRAPH: POETRY FOUNDATION