Which American poet wrote "Still I Rise"?

The American poet who wrote “Still I Rise” is Maya Angelou.

The poem first appeared in Angelou’s 1978 poetry collection And Still I Rise. Written in a direct, rhythmic voice, it confronts racism, sexism, historical oppression, and attempts to define Black identity from the outside. Its repeated language of rising turns personal defiance into a broader declaration of survival and self-worth.

Angelou was born Marguerite Annie Johnson in St. Louis in 1928. Before becoming one of the United States’ best-known poets, she worked as a performer, writer, activist, and organizer connected to the Civil Rights Movement. Her literary reputation had already grown through her 1969 memoir I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.

Readers sometimes confuse the poem’s publication date with the date of later recordings, performances, or anthologies. The poem belongs to the 1978 book, while Angelou’s public profile grew further through works such as “On the Pulse of Morning,” which she recited at Bill Clinton’s 1993 presidential inauguration.