Zora Neale Hurston

The writer and anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston wrote plays and novels in the 1930s and 1940s before passing into obscurity and being rediscovered decades after her death.

Born in Alabama, she grew up in Florida before heading northward, probably when still a teenager. She worked as a domestic before gaining admission to Howard University, where she decided upon a literary career.

After moving to New York City she was able to attend Barnard College, where she earned a degree in anthropology. For five years, from 1927 to 1932, she collected folklore in the American South.

Often considered essential works of the Harlem Renaissance, her novels include Jonah's Gourd Vine, Their Eyes Were Watching God, and Seraph On the Suwanee. She wrote a memoir, Dust Tracks On the Road, which was published in 1942.

While her writing was generally praised, controversy may have led to it eventually being ignored, and Hurston died in 1960, nearly forgotten, her books out of print. In the 1970s author Alice Walker helped revive the literary reputation of Zora Neale Hurston, whose books remain in print and are read widely today.

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