Phenomenal Woman

The career of American activist, memoirist, and poet Maya Angelou—often called a “phenomenal woman” herself—is noted for poems that speak to Black experience, human resilience in the face of oppression, as well as the strength and beauty of women. 

The poem “Phenomenal Woman” first appeared in Cosmopolitan magazine in 1978. Later that year, it became part of Angelou’s third collection of poetry, And Still I Rise. This lyric poem, which details the special qualities of the speaker that don’t align necessarily with conventional standards of beauty, has become one of Angelou’s most popular. The written version contains four stanzas, but during many speaking engagements Angelou added an additional stanza emphasizing the interconnected history of women in the audience. 

After its initial publication, “Phenomenal Woman” was featured in the film Poetic Justice (1993). It was also published in Angelou’s The Complete Collected Poems (1994), Phenomenal Woman: Four Poems Celebrating Women (1995), and the posthumous Complete Poetry (2015). During her later career, Angelou was very popular and widely respected. She read at the inauguration of US President Bill Clinton in 1993 and was featured prominently on The Oprah Winfrey Show throughout the 1990s and 2000s. Her poems remain popular today.