One of the brightest lights of our time -- a brilliant writer, a fierce friend, and a truly phenomenal woman ? Barack ObamaThe poems and stories she wrote and read to us in her commanding voice were gifts of wisdom and wit, courage and grace . . . I will always be grateful for her electrifying reading of 'On the Pulse of Morning' at my first inaugural, and even more for all the years of friendship that followed ? Bill ClintonThe 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 ? Oprah WinfreyYou will hear the regal woman, the mischievous street girl; you will hear the price of black woman's survival and you will hear of her generosity. Black, bitter, and beautiful, she speaks of our survival ? James Baldwin

Dr Maya Angelou was one of the world's most important writers and activists. Born 4 April 1928, she lived and chronicled an extraordinary life: rising from poverty, violence and racism, she became a renowned author, poet, playwright, civil rights' activist - working with Malcolm X and Martin Luther King - and memoirist. She wrote and performed a poem, 'On the Pulse of Morning', for President Clinton on his inauguration; she was given the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Obama and was honoured by more than seventy universities throughout the world.She first thrilled the world with I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969). This was followed by six volumes of autobiography, the seventh and final volume, Mom & Me & Mom, published in 2013. She wrote three collections of essays; many volumes of poetry, including His Day is Done, a tribute to Nelson Mandela; and two cookbooks. She had a lifetime appointment as Reynolds Professor of American Studies at Wake Forest University of North Carolina. Dr Angelou died on 28 May 2014.