New Releases by Zora Neale Hurston

The acknowledgment and admiration of fiction by women of the Harlem Renaissance is growing rapidly. Their stories encompass unique premises and perceptions and, taken as a whole, they balance the historically male-dominated perspectives in Harlem Renaissance literature. Their captivating narratives reveal insights and perspectives unique to the women who experienced the Harlem Renaissance. Through their presence, perseverance, and talent, these women played a crucial role in the historical progress of Black women’s literature. This volume—a combination of two ''Short-Take'' anthologies, plus 8 bonus stories—presents the best short stories by distinguished women writers, from those who have earned more widespread attention to those who haven’t yet but are just as deserving. This informed and comprehensive collection is a combination of the stories by women most admired during the Harlem Renaissance and those most studied since then. - 25 short stories by 25 distinguished writers. - Includes a list of all the short stories by women recognized in national Harlem Renaissance literary contests. * VOLUME 1 "Sanctuary" by Nella Larsen "Mary Elizabeth" by Jessie Redmon Fauset "Wedding Day" by Gwendolyn Bennett "Hope Deferred" by Alice Dunbar-Nelson "Spunk" by Zora Neale Hurston "The Typewriter" by Dorothy West "Drab Rambles" by Marita O. Bonner “Three Dogs and a Rabbit” by Anita Scott Coleman VOLUME 2 “To a Wild Rose” by Ottie B. Graham “Days” by Brenda Ray Moryck “There Never Fell a Night So Dark” by Marie Loise French "Letters" by Idabelle Yeiser “Masks” by Eloise Bibb Thompson “Bethesda of Sinners Run” by Maude Irwin Owens “The Foolish and the Wise” by Leila Amos Pendleton “Mammy” by Adeline F. Ries “Door-stops” by May Miller MORE STORIES "Black" by Nellie Rathbone Bright "The Pink Hat" by Caroline Bond Day "In Houses of Glass" by Ethel R. Clark "Goldie" by Angelina Weld Grimke “Lai-li” by Mae V. Cowdery "The Corner" by Eunice Hunton Carter "Subversion" by Edythe Mae Gordon "Two Gentlemen of Boston" by Florida Ruffin Ridley

A never before published novel from beloved author Zora Neale Hurston, revealing the historical Herod the Great—not the villain the Bible makes him out to be but a religious and philosophical man who lived a life of valor and vision. In the 1950s, as a continuation of Moses, Man of the Mountain, Zora Neale Hurston penned a historical novel about one of the most infamous figures in the Bible, Herod the Great. In Hurston’s retelling, Herod is not the wicked ruler of the New Testament who is charged with the “slaughter of the innocents,” but a forerunner of Christ—a beloved king who enriched Jewish culture and brought prosperity and peace to Judea. From the peaks of triumph to the depths of human misery, the historical Herod “appears to have been singled out and especially endowed to attract the lightning of fate,” Hurston writes. An intimate of both Marc Antony and Julius Caesar, the Judean king lived during the first century BCE, in a time of war and imperial expansion that was rife with political assassinations and bribery, as the old world gave way to the new. Portraying Herod within this vivid and dynamic world of antiquity, little known to modern readers, Hurston’s unfinished manuscript brings this complex, compelling, and misunderstood leader fully into focus. Hurston shared her findings about Herod’s rise, his reign, and his waning days in letters to friends and associates. Text from three of these letters concludes the manuscript in an intimate way. Scholar-Editor Deborah Plant’s "Commentary: A Story Finally Told" assesses Hurston’s pioneering work and underscores Hurston’s perspective that the first century BCE has much to teach us and that the lens through which to view this dramatic and stirring era is the life and times of Herod the Great.

"When a mule bone becomes a bone of contention between two best friends, guitar player Jim and dancer Dave, their small Southern town becomes embroiled in the conflict. Egged on by flirtatious newcomer Daisy, matters escalate until the harmony of Eatonville is overturned and the longtime pals end up in court. Will justice or friendship prevail in this humorous Harlem Renaissance classic? ""The Mule-Bone: A Comedy of Negro Life in Three Acts"" by Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston is a play written by two prominent African American authors during the 1930s. ""The Mule-Bone"" explores themes of love, rivalry, and community life in a Southern town. It''s known for its rich dialogue and humor, offering a snapshot of African American culture during the early part of the 20th century."

The acclaimed author of Their Eyes Were Watching God relates her experiences as an African American woman in early-twentieth-century America. In this autobiographical essay, author Zora Neale Hurston recounts episodes from her childhood in different communities in Florida: Eatonville and Jacksonville. She reflects on what those experiences showed her about race, identity, and feeling different. “How It Feels to Be Colored Me” was originally published in 1928 in the magazine The World Tomorrow.

Zora Neale Hurston’s tragic 1926 play Color Struck is a thought-provoking commentary on colorism within the Black community. Set in Florida in 1900, Colour Struck begins on a Jim Crow train carriage. Barely making the train, Emma and John''s journey commences with an argument. Emma saw John speaking to a lighter-skinned Black woman, Effie, and was immediately jealous, assuming he was flirting. Throughout the play Emma continues to display animosity towards those with lighter skin, which often results in calamity. Exploring themes of colorism, self-destruction, and hatred, Zora Neale Hurston’s 1926 tragedy comments on intra-racial racism and warns of the adverse effects of harbouring hatred. Color Struck was first published in Fire!! magazine and won second prize in the Opportunity magazine’s contest for best play. Now republished in a new edition, Hurston’s play is not one to be missed by those with an interest in Harlem Renaissance literature.

From “one of the greatest writers of our time” (Toni Morrison)—the author of Barracoon and Their Eyes Were Watching God—a collection of remarkable stories, including eight “lost” Harlem Renaissance tales now available to a wide audience for the first time. New York Times’ Books to Watch for Buzzfeed’s Most Anticipated Books Newsweek’s Most Anticipated Books Forbes.com’s Most Anticipated Books E!’s Top Books to Read Glamour’s Best Books Essence’s Best Books by Black Authors In 1925, Barnard student Zora Neale Hurston—the sole black student at the college—was living in New York, “desperately striving for a toe-hold on the world.” During this period, she began writing short works that captured the zeitgeist of African American life and transformed her into one of the central figures of the Harlem Renaissance. Nearly a century later, this singular talent is recognized as one of the most influential and revered American artists of the modern period. Hitting a Straight Lick with a Crooked Stick is an outstanding collection of stories about love and migration, gender and class, racism and sexism that proudly reflect African American folk culture. Brought together for the first time in one volume, they include eight of Hurston’s “lost” Harlem stories, which were found in forgotten periodicals and archives. These stories challenge conceptions of Hurston as an author of rural fiction and include gems that flash with her biting, satiric humor, as well as more serious tales reflective of the cultural currents of Hurston’s world. All are timeless classics that enrich our understanding and appreciation of this exceptional writer’s voice and her contributions to America’s literary traditions.

"Maybe, now, we used-to-be black African folks can be of some help to our brothers and sisters who have always been white. You will take another look at us and say that we are still black and, ethnologically speaking, you will be right. But nationally and culturally, we are as white as the next one. We have put our labor and our blood into the common causes for a long time. We have given the rest of the nation song and laughter. Maybe now, in this terrible struggle, we can give something else—the source and soul of our laughter and song. We offer you our hope-bringer, High John de Conquer." Zora Neale Hurston (1891-1960) was an influential author of African-American literature and anthropologist, who portrayed racial struggles in the early 20th century American South, and published research on Haitian voodoo. Of Hurston''s four novels and more than 50 published short stories, plays, and essays, her most popular is the 1937 novel Their Eyes Were Watching God. Originally published in The American Mercury (1943).

Created by Harvard students for students everywhere, SparkNotes books contain complete plot summaries and analyses, key facts about the featured work, analysis of the major characters, suggested essay topics, themes, motifs, and symbols, and explanations of important quotations.

Do you dare to cross paths with ... An enchantress who can slip in and out of her skin, A man more evil than the devil, A skull who talks back, A pair of creepy feet that can walk on their own? Spooky, chilling, and fantastical, this collection of six scary tales will send shivers up your spine! The stories in the skull talks back have been selected from Every Tongue Got To Confess, Zora Neale Hurston''s third volume of folklore. Through Joyce Carol Thomas''s carefully adapted text and Leonard Jenkins''s arresting illustrations, the soulful, fanciful imaginations of ordinary folk will reach readers of all ages.

Every Tongue Got to Confess is an extensive volume of African American folklore that Zora Neale Hurston collected on her travels through the Gulf States in the late 1920s. The bittersweet and often hilarious tales -- which range from longer narratives about God, the Devil, white folk, and mistaken identity to witty one-liners -- reveal attitudes about faith, love, family, slavery, race, and community. Together, this collection of nearly 500 folktales weaves a vibrant tapestry that celebrates African American life in the rural South and represents a major part of Zora Neale Hurston''s literary legacy.

Mule Bone is the only collaboration between Zora Neale Hurston and Langston Hughes, two stars of the Harlem Renaissance, and it holds an unparalleled place in the annals of African-American theater. Set in Eatonville, Florida--Hurston''s hometown and the inspiration for much of her fiction--this energetic and often farcical play centers on Jim and Dave, a two-man song-and-dance team, and Daisy, the woman who comes between them. Overcome by jealousy, Jim hits Dave with a mule bone and hilarity follows chaos as the town splits into two factions: the Methodists, who want to pardon Jim; and the Baptists, who wish to banish him for his crime. Included in this edition is the fascinating account of the Mule Bone copyright dispute between Hurston and Hughes that ended their friendship and prevented the play from being performed until its debut production at the Lincoln Center Theater in New York City in 1991--sixty years after it was written. Also included is "The Bone of Contention," Hurston''s short story on which the play was based; personal and often heated correspondence between the authors; and critical essays that illuminate the play and the dazzling period that came to be known as the Harlem Renaissance.

Now frequently anthologized, Zora Neale Hurston''s short story "Sweat" was first published in Firell, a legendary literary magazine of the Harlem Renaissance, whose sole issue appeared in November 1926. Among contributions by Gwendolyn Bennett, Countee Cullen, Langston Hughes, and Wallace Thurman, "Sweat" stood out both for its artistic accomplishment and its exploration of rural Southern black life. In "Sweat" Hurston claimed the voice that animates her mature fiction, notably the 1937 novel Their Eyes Were Watching God; the themes of marital conflict and the development of spiritual consciousness were introduced as well. "Sweat" exemplifies Hurston''s lifelong concern with women''s relation to language and the literary possibilities of black vernacular. This casebook for the story includes an introduction by the editor, a chronology of the author''s life, the authoritative text of "Sweat," and a second story, "The Gilded Six-Bits." Published in 1932, this second story was written after Hurston had spent years conducting fieldwork in the Southern United States. The volume also includes Hurston''s groundbreaking 1934 essay, "Characteristics of Negro Expression," and excerpts from her autobiography, Dust Tracks on a Road. An article by folklorist Roger Abrahams provides additional cultural contexts for the story, as do selected blues and spirituals. Critical commentary comes from Alice Walker, who led the recovery of Hurston''s work in the 1970s, Robert Hemenway, Henry Louis Gates, Gayl Jones, John Lowe, Kathryn Seidel, and Mary Helen Washington.

A collection of short stories, most of which appeared in literary magazines during the author''s lifetime, along with previously unpublished works, spans the career of one of the century''s foremost African American writers.

The Library of America is dedicated to publishing America''s best and most significant writing in handsome, enduring volumes, featuring authoritative texts. Hailed as the "finest-looking, longest-lasting editions ever made" (The New Republic), Library of America volumes make a fine gift for any occasion. Now, with exactly one hundred volumes to choose from, there is a perfect gift for everyone.

A fictionized biography of Moses as a religious leader and a great voodoo man, told in Negro vernacular.

"Jonah''s Gourd Vine," Zora Neale Hurston''s first novel, originally published in 1934, tells the story of John Buddy Pearson, "a living exultation" of a young man who loves too many women for his own good. Lucy, his long-suffering wife, is his true love, but there''s also Mehaley and Big ''Oman, as well as the scheming Hattie, who conjures hoodoo spells to ensure his attentions. Even after becoming the popular pastor of Zion Hope, where his sermons and prayers for cleansing rouse the congregation''s fervor, John has to confess that though he is a preacher on Sundays, he is a "natchel man" the rest of the week. And so in this sympathetic portrait of a man and his community, Zora Neale Hurston shows that faith, tolerance, and good intentions cannot resolve the tension between the spiritual and the physical. That she makes this age-old dilemma come so alive is a tribute to her understanding of the vagaries of human nature.

The Sanctified Church is a collection of Hurston''s ground-breaking essays on Afro-American folklore, legend, popular mythology, and, in particular, the unique spiritual character of the Southern Black Christian Church. Along with preserving the customs, music, speech, and humor of rural Black America, The Sanctified Church introduces us to such extraordinary figures as Mother Catherine, matriarchal founder of a highly personal Voodoo Christian sect; Uncle Monday, healer, conjurer, and powerful herb doctor; and High John de Conquer, the trickster/shaman figure of freedom and laughter still honored in parts of rural Black America today. A pioneering ethnographer and folklore scholar, the great Zora Neale Hurston captured the exuberance, vitality and genius of Black culture with a vividness and authority unmatched by any other writer. (Back cover).

The most prolific African-American woman author from 1920 to 1950, Hurston was praised for her writing and condemned for her independence, arrogance, and audaciousness. This unique anthology, with 14 superb examples of her fiction, journalism, folklore, and autobiography, rightfully establishes her as the intellectual and spiritual leader of the next generation of black writers. In addition to six essays and short stories, the collection includes excerpts from Dust Tracks on the Road; Mules and Me; Tell My Horse; Jonah''s Gourd Vine; Moses, Man of the Mountain; and Their Eyes Were Watching God. The original commentary by Alice Walker and Mary Helen Washington, two African-American writers in the forefront of the Hurston revival, provide illuminating insights into Hurston-the writer, the person-as well as into American social and cultural history.

Initially published in 1937, this novel about a proud, independent black woman has, since its reissue in trade paper in 1978, been the most widely readand highly acclaimed novel in the canon of African-American literature. With this richly illustrated new edition, the novel is finally accorded the treatment it deserves as a classic.

MAXnotes. . .- offer a fresh look at masterpieces of literature- present material in an interesting, lively fashion- are written by literary experts who currently teach the subjects- are designed to stimulate independent thinking by raising various issues and thought-provoking ideas and questions- enhance understanding and enjoyment of the work- cover what one must know about each work- include an overall summary, character lists, explanation and discussion of the plot, the work''s historical context, biography of the author- each chapter is individually summarized and analyzed and includes study questions and answers- feature illustrations conveying the period and mood of the workEach MAXnotes measures 5 1/4" x 8 1/4" (13.3 cm x 21 cm).