Author Biography

The book Their Eyes Were Watching God was written by Zora Neale Hurston. Zora was born on January 7, 1981 in Eatonville, an all-black city that began in the 1880's.  She lost her mother when she was a young teenager and was separated from her seven siblings after her father remarried. When Hurston grew up, she went on to study anthropology (the study of humankind) at Barnard College and Columbia University. Zora began writing in college formally for the school newspaper that she helped create and still exists today. In addition to this she wrote a short story during her time at school. Throughout her life Zora was divorced three times and when she was approximately 44 she fell in love with 23 year old Percy Punter who asked her to give up her career and marry him. She refused because she had "Thing clawing inside that must be said." It was around this time she wrote Their Eyes Were Watching God. Hurston has made many great works in her lifetime including 4 novels and more than 50 published short stories, plays, and essays, but none of them were as popular as Their Eyes Were Watching God. A little later on in life Hurston took part in the Harlem Renaissance, the black movement in the arts that began in 1919 with the return of black soldiers from the Great War. She came into the movement with her publication of a story "Drenched in Light" in 1924. In 1925, at the urging of the editor of the National Urban League, she moved to Harlem and met other writers and intellectuals of Harlem. Later in the 1940’s Hurston went through a little bit of a rough patch. Despite her publication of Their Eyes Were Watching God in 1937 she struggled with financial stability throughout the 40's. At the time of the book’s publication Richard Wright the Author of Native Son and Black Boy condemned her book for carrying no theme or message and being written to make white people laugh. According to one source his comments and review so hurt Zora that she wished she had not written the book. After time, people started realizing how special the book really was and Zora was able to gain back her confidence before she died in 1960. Overall, Zora Hurston lived a great life and had a lot of success and has gone down in history as a great author.

Works Cited

"Harlem Renaissance." History.com. Ed. Eric Foner and John A. Garraty. A&E Television Networks, 1991. Web. 12 May 2014.

Boyd, Valerie. "Zora Neale Hurston." The Official Website of. The Estate of Zora Neale Hurston, n.d. Web. 11 May 2014.

By Katherine Jenson