Zora in Florida

Following years of neglect, Zora Neale Hurston’s status in American letters is restored: she is now recognized as one of the foremost African-American writers of the twentieth century—an artist of the Harlem Renaissance and a native Florida writer. focuses on  the place that nurtured and inspired her work, the frontier wilderness of central Florida and the all-black town of Eatonville. Two chapters are devoted to her first novel, , set almost entirely in Florida. Others discuss her work for the WPA in Florida; , her autobiography; and , her collection of Florida folklore gathered under the direction of anthropologist Franz Boas. The book also treats Hurston’s lesser-known works such as the play and , her first-person account of fieldwork in Haiti. The legal troubles, professional eclipse, and personal opprobrium Hurston endured late in life are discussed in the final chapter.