Zora Neale Hurston Biography

Zora Neale Hurston was a well-known American folklorist, anthropologist and author. Born in Alabama, she wrote plays, short stories and essays apart from novels, during the Harlem Renaissance period. She spent some time collecting folklore and stories from Latin America, the Caribbean and the South, and brought them out in her book ‘Mules and Men’. This way she recorded tales of various traditions, including the African-American culture that she herself belonged to. Her illustrious career spanned over a period of thirty years. Starting her life with a peaceful childhood, Hurston soon had to face the hardships of life with her mother’s early death. She displayed the knack of winning people’s hearts with her keen sense of humour and her great intellect. Though very social, the novelist was equally dedicated to her work. At times, she would retire to her bedroom to write in private, even when parties were in full swing in the living room. Despite gaining appreciation as a promising writer of the Harlem Renaissance, poverty kept chasing her and even in her last days she had to take up menial jobs. She breathed her last in Florida, and was buried in an unmarked grave. The famous writer Alice Walker located this eminent folklorist’s grave, and marked it with a headstone.