Zora Page by Nicole Wilson nkwilson@uccs.edu

The woman we have encountered recently thanks to Alice Walker's work on African American women writers is Zora Neale Hurston, from the strong all black community of Eatonville, Florida.  Here is an excerpt from Their Eyes Were Watching God:

"From the barren brown stems to glistening leaf buds; from the leaf-buds to the snowy virginity of bloom.  It stirred her tremendously."  

Ms. Hurston's work stands as an artistically creative collection of folklore, poetry, narrative, scholarly, and culturally rich writing that represents the African American woman as never read before.  Janie is the protagonist in Their Eyes... who is an individual, first, and we see her background and race after her spirit and soul Zora creates.  The components of her womanhood arise as she matures before our eyes and our sympathy and appreciation of her grows with her.

The different websites on Hurston that  I appreciate include:

Women Writers of Color @  http://voices.cla.umn.edu/authors/ZoraNealeHurston.html: The University of Minnesota offers an extensive background on Ms. Hurston, as well as many other sites to reference.

http://i.am/zora: This site has the best photos of the extravert Zora and her different identities as wild woman and scholar.  She mixed the two qualities gracefully.

 Zora Neale Hurston, American Author.:This site has great images and an elaborate graphics that read like a magazine with flare.  It is neat that the journalistic presentation seems to bring Zora into contemporary news, and revives her in a way.

Finally, the Schomburg Library in NYC offers some information regarding Zora.. This is a good context and angle to appreciate Zora from.  The introduction is a great synopsis of Zora's talents and impact during the Harlem Renaissance.