Zora+Neale+Hurston


 * ** By Sarah, Grade 6 **

The strong opinionated author, whom we know as Zora Neale Hurston, was very wise and resourceful in both her life and her writing. Zora Neale Hurston was born on January 7th 1891 in Eatonville, Florida. Eatonville was an all Black town that had a lot of influence on Zora because that was where she first got her headstart on writing. She used to sit in front of her local county store and listen to people tell stories and sing blues.

When Zora first got to Harlem all she had was $1.50, no job, no friends, and a lot of hope. Zora’s first job in Harlem was as a manicurist in a barber shop. The first time Zora had her writing in the public was when she wrote a story a story called “Spunk” for a magazine called Opportunity. After that people started to realize that she had a real gift. A short period after that Zora was part of the younger crowd of writers and artists.

When Zora first met the famous poet, Langston Hughes, it was at a writing competition. During the competition, the two got to know each other better. Langston once said that, “ Zora knew how to represent the black race."

In the middle of all of her success, Zora wrote a book called, Their Eyes Were Watching God. This book was published in the later 1920’s.

In her late 40’s, Zora took a trip to Haiti. While there she learned about voodoo. When Zora got back to Harlem, she wrote a short story about her trip.

During the end of her life Zora worked as a maid. One day when Zora’s employer was looking through her bookshelf, she found out that Zora was a former writer. Her employer called the press. In her last interview, Zora said that she quit writing because her heart wasn’t in it. Zora died on January 28, 1960 of a blood clot in her brain. Zora was a phenomenal writer for then and now. ||  ||   ||   ||   ||