Zora Neale Hurston

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Summer Reading Assignment: Biography of Zora Neale Hurston

The quotation on her tombstone, “A Genius of the South” is an understatement.

(Dickenson) Zora Neale Hurston is more than a genius. She is an inspiration to all kind of

people, but primarily African Americans. Her writings about everyday life help normal

people get through all kinds of troubles.

She was born on 7 January 1891 in Notasulga, Alabama, but soon after, she

moved to Eatonville, Florida. Many people think that this was her place of birth, but it is

not. Most of her ideas for her writings come from her struggles while living in Eatonville.

(Dickenson)

Hurston’s mother, Lucy Hurston, died in 1904, and she took a dislike to her

stepmother. As a result, she left home and joined a traveling theatre company. This wasthe

beginning of Hurston’s education and future writing career. (Dickenson)

After leaving home, Hurston ended up at Morgan Academy where she finished

high school. In 1920, she enrolled in Howard University. After about a year, Hurston’s

first piece of work was published. In 1921, Howard University’s literary magazine

published one of her stories. She received more recognition later when another story

appeared in the New York Magazine Opportunity. Hurston won second place in the

Opportunity contest and, after lots of encouragement, moved to New York. (Dickenson)

One of Hurston’s earliest pieces of works was the play Mule Bone she “wrote with


Langston Hughes.” (Dickenson) The two disagreed over ownership though and charged

one another with plagiarism. (Byrd) In 1934, Hurston published “Jonah’s Gourd Vine”,

her first novel, which was based on two people who were like her parents. In 1935, she

published a book of collected tales entitled Mules and Men. In 1937, the most powerful

novel Hurston has ever written,...