Maya Angelou has won twelve awards in her lifetime. She was given a literary award by Michelle Obama. The award was given to her because she inspired groups of women rise above their situation and know their worth. Her book "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" won the honorary National Book Award from the National Book Foundation It is the first major literary prize she has won. She talked and remembered as she accepted a lifetime achievement award Thursday night from the Norman Mailer Center. She the Langston Hughes Medal in 1991, Women in Film Crystal award in 1992, Spingarn Medal, Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album in 1994, 1996, 2003, quill award for poetry in 2006, NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work – Poetry in 2009, 2005
