Zora Neale Hurston (1891-1960) was a prolific writer and anthropologist who depicted the cultural nuances of the African American experience. Informed by her Southern upbringing, Hurston’s work often explores race, spirituality and self-liberation. In 1921, she published her first story “John Redding Goes to Sea,” which appeared in Stylus, a literary magazine at Howard University. The author’s career spanned more than 30 years and produced multiple plays, essays and novels including Their Eyes Were Watching God. Hurston was a central figure in the Harlem Renaissance and inspired a generation of writers including Pulitzer Prize winner, Alice Walker.
