VOICE ONE:
Zora Neale Hurston published her first book, “Jonah’s Gourd Vine,” in nineteen thirty-four. The story takes place in a small Florida town. It is about two people similar to her parents. Her second book, “Their Eyes Were Watching God,” was published three years later. It is widely considered her most important work. She wrote the book in seven weeks while she was traveling in Haiti. It is the story of a black woman’s search for happiness and her true identity, during twenty-five years and three marriages.
In nineteen forty-two, Hurston published a story about her own life, called “Dust Tracks on a Road.” But the book was widely criticized. Literary experts said it was full of false information. Others said it added to the mystery surrounding the writer.Hurston’s last two novels were the biblical story “Moses, Man of the Mountain” and “Seraph on the Suwanee.” This was the only book she wrote about white people.
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VOICE TWO:
Zora Neale Hurston’s stories were about the pain-filled and sometimes magical world that surrounded blacks in the South. The stories tell about faith, love, family, slavery, race and community. They also include humor. Hurston was well known for her writing. She also became known for her outspoken opinions, her clothing and the great pride she had in herself and her race.She was married three times. But she found it impossible to settle down. Her husbands usually expected her to give up her writing. But she said that was the one thing she could not do.
VOICE ONE:
Hurston received praise for her work by both blacks and whites. But not everyone enjoyed her work. Some of the writers of the Harlem Renaissance criticized her for writing about black culture instead of relations between the races. Many blacks also rejected Hurston’s political ideas and her support for racial separation laws in the South.
Hurston, however, made no apologies for her work. She said the richness of black culture existed to be enjoyed, celebrated and made into literature.
VOICE TWO:
During the late nineteen forties, she began to publish less and less. She was arrested and charged with sexual wrongdoing with a ten-year-old boy. The charges were later dropped, but the event affected her work and her life.In nineteen fifty, Hurston returned to Florida. Although her work was quite popular, she was unable to make a living with her writing. In her later years, she worked as a teacher, a librarian and as maid. In nineteen fifty-nine, Hurston suffered a stroke and entered a nursing home in Fort Pierce, Florida. She died there a year later and was buried in an unmarked grave.
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VOICE ONE:
Today, Zora Neale Hurston has not been forgotten. She influenced other African-American female writers, including Alice Walker. Because of Walker’s efforts, Hurston’s work was rediscovered in the nineteen seventies. During the nineteen nineties, her book “Their Eyes Were Watching God” sold more than one million copies. Many young people in American schools are reading the book. In addition, two of Hurston’s plays have been produced. New books have been written about her. And her work and life are the subject of many studies, conferences and festivals.
In nineteen seventy-three, Alice Walker placed a marker in Fort Pierce, Florida, where Hurston is believed to be buried. The stone reads, “Zora Neale Hurston, A Genius of the South.”
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VOICE TWO:
This Special English program was written and produced by Cynthia Kirk. I'm Steve Ember.
VOICE ONE:
And I’m Mary Tillotson. Join us again next week for another PEOPLE IN AMERICA program on the Voice of America.
