Zora Neale Hurston Influences

"I have the nerve to walk my own way, however hard, in my search for reality, rather than climb upon the rattling wagon of wishful illusions,” (Boyd). This quote was written by well-known author and short-story writer, Zora Neale Hurston in a letter to Countee Cullen. By these words, she claims to have the right to live her life in fullest potential and be true to herself and beliefs. Hurston is a notorious writer, novelist and playwright who is known for her four novels, 50 short stories, plays and essays (Zora Neale Hurston). Author Hurston also plays an important role for the Harlem Renaissance. She is considered a significant individual of twentieth-century African American literature. Hurston derived from poverty to prominence and was influential towards many. Despite Zora Neale Hurston’s unsettled life, she managed to overcome every obstacle to become one of the most profound authors of her time. Despite that she would later descend into stigma because of her resistant views on civil rights, her passionate writing which eulogize southern black culture has impacted generations of African American literary physiques. Hurston’s work also had an influence on later black American authors such as Toni Morrison, Ralph Ellison and Alice Walker. Zora Neale

While the majority of biographical expositions list the year of her birth as 1901 and in a 1993 biography film they list her birth day as 1891. Hurston was the daughter of two former slaves. Her father was John Hurston; he was a pastor, and he moved the family to Florida when Hurston was very young. Her mother died when Hurston was 13, and her father, John, busy traveling as a preacher and sent Zora to a Jacksonville boarding school, where she often worked as a janitor in place of the tuition money that he didn’t always remember to send. A brief return home ended when Zora nearly killed her father’s young second wife in a domestic dispute