It was a cold, rainy day and I was sitting in a classroom, waiting to start an A Level English lesson. I was feeling particularly bored – I hadn’t slept well the night before and I had strongly objected that morning at having to get out of bed – the prospect of studying two hours of Shakespeare was distinctly unnappealing. However, my tutor had decided that we were going to do something a little different and promptly handed me an A4 sheet of paper that contained two long paragraphs. The next two hours turned out to be  some of the most interesting analysis sessions that I had ever participated in – the words were so inspiring and beautifully written that I made a note of the book that the text was taken from so that I could purchase it on my way home.

The book was ‘I Know Why a Caged Bird Sings’ by Maya Angelou. Continue reading →