Reading Diary: Maya Angelou Still I Rise

Today's Reading Diary is a little different as it is about a documentary that I recently watched.  So, around Christmas, I signed up for Netflix - mostly to watch To All the Boys I've Loved Before if I'm perfectly honest. But I figured, while I have it, I may as well watch all the things I'm interested in.

This was the first documentary I watched, all about the life of Maya Angelou.  And I was pretty surprised when I started watching it.  I realised pretty quickly that I knew very little about the woman herself, or her life.  I had no idea she was a dancer, a singer, an actress.  In fact, she was so many things in her life: a lecturer, a director, a screenwriter.  I really only knew her as a poet and the author of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.

I found it fascinating about her travels, her marriages, her friendships.  And I suppose it is for that reason that I wanted to write this Reading Diary entry today.  Because on the back of watching this documentary, I added a great number of books to my wish list.  I not only want to read the rest of her autobiographies to read about her life in her own words but I added most of James Baldwin's books as well.  Maya Angelou and James Baldwin seemed to be particular friends and I became quite curious to read something of his.

If Beale Street Could Talk is soon going to be released as a film adaptation so now seems like a good time to read that book.  Also, Giovanni's Room is on my list because of the LGBT aspects of the story itself.  Also, Go Tell It on the Mountain.

Another book I added to my list is The Autobiography of Malcolm X, which I of course have heard about but have never read.  There was also a segment on the set of Poetic Justice where Maya Angelou had this intense interaction with Tupac Shakur that made me quite curious to read his poetry, The Rose The Grew From Concrete, so that made it on the list as well.

It was definitely a worthwhile use of my time, watching this.  I love Maya's poetry and it was fascinating to learn more of her life.  I finished watching this and started reading my favourite poems of her's all over again.  Old favourites are favourites for a reason!

52: Write A Poem A Week

So... as it is now February, I thought that it would be a little too late to write a post entitled 'What I Got For Christmas' but that is sort of what I wanted to write about today.  I may have mentioned before that I have a Happiness List (like a Bucket List but with a more positive spin) and also a Year of Fun plan that I put into place every year.  I want 2018 to be a year where I accomplish things, where I push myself creatively and also in other ways.  I want to get back into both reading and writing this blog, naturally.  But one of the other things I really want to do this year has to do with this book...

I got this book, 52: Write A Poem A Week by Jo Bell and various for Christmas and I just love the idea of it.  It's a collection of poetry writing prompts for every week in a year and it includes a poem with each prompt to give the reader an example of sorts but also to introduce certain types of poetry writing techniques.  It sounds pretty good for a complete beginner like me.  If I'm honest, I've only read the first prompt and poem and have been mulling it over ever since (I read that first prompt on Christmas Day, ha!)

But that's a thing I want to do this year.  Perhaps not every week and who knows? Maybe I won't use this book for inspiration or guidance for long.  But it's a start.  Poetry has had such an enormous impact on my life over the last couple of years and I really want it to play a part in my present and in my future too.

Do you have any creative goals for yourself in 2018?