Zora Neale Hurston

Born in 1891, Hurston was a black writer during the Harlem Renaissance. Though she was born in Notasugla, Alabama, her family moved to Eatonville, Florida when she was very young, and that's where she lived for most of her childhood. Hurston accumulated a collection of folklore from her hometown of Eatonville, and she continued that collection by gathering tales from Jamaica, Hati, Bermuda, and Honduras. Though her most famous work was Their Eyes Were Watching God, other works of hers include: Jonah's Gourd Vine, Seraph on the Suwanee, and Dust Tracks on a Road. One of the things that made Hurston significant in the literary world was that she wasn't afraid to address issues of race and gender in her works. So, in essence, she wasn't afraid to cause a bit of controversy in the community. Zora Hurston died at the age of 59 due to heath problems that she had developed over the years. She died in poverty and she had never been fully recognized for her works in life by the literary community. About 10-15 years after her death, her works were rediscovered by another generation of black writers, one of them being Alice Walker. This rediscovery of Hurston's works lead to a republication of many of her stories and novels that had previously been overlooked. A two-volume set of her works was published in 1995, so many years after her death.

Source:"Zora Neale Hurston." Microsoft® Student 2009 [DVD]. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Corporation, 2008.