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Brought out through Harper Perennial publishing label, this would come to exemplify much of Hurston’s career to follow too. Originally published in 1934, this would come to be a groundbreaking work from Zora Neale Hurston as an author of the time. With more and more discovering her work every day, she will continue to live on in the American consciousness as an essential literary figure for many years to come. Leaving behind a vast and important legacy, she really made an impact with her work, one that is still admired to this day. Living a long and productive life, she lived until the 28th of January, 1960, when she would finally pass away. Immersing herself in the local cultures and customs, she would come to provide a first-hand account of all that she heard and saw during her time there. Examining the cultures of the Caribbean along with the American South, she would take into account the many traditions and stories that she found there. Travelling extensively throughout her life, she would also come to incorporate a number of folkloric ideas into her work too.
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Later in 1934 she would write her first full fictional novel titled ‘Jonah’s Gourd Vine’, which would also expand upon these important themes and ideas. Looking at her time spent in Eatonville, it would come to exemplify the experiences of many black Americans, giving them a voice in the years to follow. In the year of 1928 Zora Neale Hurston would bring out her first essay titled ‘How It Feels To Be Colored Me’, which would recount her experiences growing up. Seeking to advance herself and the world and around her, she would become a prominent black writer, a legacy which continues to this very day.
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Establishing herself as not just a writer, she would also establish a school of dramatic arts which would be based on ‘pure Negro expression’. Marrying the jazz musician Herbert Sheen in 1927, he would later become a physician, an their marriage ended in 1931. Achieving numerous other academic accolades, she would be celebrated for her writing, building a name and reputation for herself as a writer with a strong voice. It would be with this that she would go on to hone and refine many of her ideas throughout the following years, whilst also having co-founded the student newspaper there, ‘The Hilltop’. Studying Howard University she would graduate in 1920, whereby she took courses in Greek, Spanish and English, along with public speaking. This would also come to influence much of her writing, shaping the way in which she would look at the world throughout her career. It was here that her father would become the mayor of the town in 1897, followed by becoming the minister of the largest church there in 1897. Later her and her family would go on to live in Eatonville in Florida which, in 1887, was one of the first towns to be proclaimed an ‘all-black town’, as it would be incorporated into the United States. Growing up in Notasulga in Alabama, she would take her life experiences and put them back into her work as a writer in the future. The sixth of eight children, she was born to father who was a preacher and sharecropper, along with her mother who was a schoolteacher. Producing a full and extensive oeuvre, she has definitely left a legacy which will be heard for many years to come yet.īorn on the 7th of January 1891, the author Zora Neale Hurston would come to have a long productive writing career for the duration of her life. Creating a rich and varied backlog of work, she would come to create a number of books that were extremely well received through her career. Hitting a Straight Lick with a Crooked StickĪn American folklorist, as well as being a highly regarded author, the writer Zora Neale Hurston was well known for being a well established voice during her time. Mothers Through the Eyes of Women Writers
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