Zora Neale Hurston books

Zora Neale Hurston (1891-1960) was an American novelist, folklorist, and anthropologist whose works include Their Eyes Were Watching God and Mules and Men.

Anthologies

Title Published Buy on Amazon
The Saturday Review Gallery 1959 Buy
The Best Short Stories by Black Writers 1967 Buy
Louisiana Stories 1990 Buy
Florida Stories 1993 Buy
Writing Women’s Lives 1994 Buy
Downhome 1995 Buy
The Prize Plays and Other One-Acts Published in Periodicals 1996 Buy
Writing New York 1998 Buy
The Messenger Reader Stories, Poetry, and Essays from The Messenger Magazine 2000 Buy
Mothers Through the Eyes of Women Writers 2001 Buy
Rotten English 2007 Buy
Graphic Classics, Volume 22: African-American Classics 2011 Buy
Letters to Change the World: From Pankhurst to Orwell 2018 Buy

Multi-Ethnic Literatures of the Americas (MELA) Reading Order

Title Published Buy on Amazon
Chinatown Family 1950 Buy
Chinatown Family (Multi-Ethnic Literatures of the Americas 1950 Buy

Non-Fiction

Title Published Buy on Amazon
How It Feels to Be Colored Me 1928 Buy
Tell My Horse 1938 Buy
Dust Tracks on a Road 1942 Buy
Folklore, Memoirs, and Other Writings 1995 Buy
Bottle Up and Go 1995 Buy
Complete Essays 1997 Buy
Collected Essays 1998 Buy
Zora Neale Hurston: A Life in Letters 2002 Buy
You Don’t Know Us Negroes and Other Essays 2022 Buy
You Don’t Know Us Negroes and Other Essays 2022 Buy
The Last Slave Ship 2023 Buy
Cudjo’s Own Story of the Last African Slaver 2023 Buy

Picture Reading Order

Title Published Buy on Amazon
The Three Witches 2006 Buy
Magnolia Flower 2022 Buy
The Making of Butterflies 2023 Buy

Plays

Title Published Buy on Amazon
Three Plays: Lawing and Jawing; Forty Yards; Woofing 2009 Buy
De Turkey an de Law 2015 Buy
Spunk: A Play 2016 Buy
Three Plays: Meet the Mamma, Color Struck and Spunk 2022 Buy
Color Struck 2022 Buy

Short Stories/Novellas

Title Published Buy on Amazon
Drenched in Light 1924 Buy
The Gilded Six-Bits 1986 Buy
Sweat 1997 Buy
The Mule-Bone 2023 Buy

Short Story Collections

Title Published Buy on Amazon
Mules and Men 1935 Buy
I Love Myself When I Am Laughing… And Then Again 1979 Buy
Hurston Reader 1979 Buy
The Sanctified Church 1981 Buy
Spunk! 1985 Buy
The Complete Stories 1995 Buy
Novels and Stories 1995 Buy
Zora Neale Hurston: Stories 1995 Buy
Zora Neale Hurston: Plays 1998 Buy
Go Gator and Muddy the Water 1999 Buy
Every Tongue Got to Confess 2001 Buy
In Search of Our Sister’s Garden 2003 Buy
What’s the Hurry, Fox? 2004 Buy
The Skull Talks Back 2004 Buy
Lies and Other Tall Tales 2005 Buy
Hitting a Straight Lick with a Crooked Stick 2020 Buy
I Love Myself When I Am Laughing… And Then Again When I Am Looking Mean and Impressive 2020 Buy
Bookmarks in the Pages of Life 2020 Buy
Collected Early Works 2022 Buy

Standalone Novels

Title Published Buy on Amazon
Jonah’s Gourd Vine 1934 Buy
Their Eyes Were Watching God 1937 Buy
Moses, Man of the Mountain 1939 Buy
Seraph on the Suwanee 1948 Buy
Barracoon 2018 Buy
The Life of Herod the Great 2025 Buy

Zora Neale Hurston (1891-1960) was an American author and anthropologist who became one of the most important writers of the Harlem Renaissance. Born in Alabama and raised in Eatonville, Florida, one of the first all-Black incorporated towns in the United States, Hurston drew on her Southern upbringing and her training in anthropology at Columbia University under Franz Boas to produce fiction and non-fiction steeped in African American vernacular and folk traditions.

Her novel Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937) is now considered one of the great American novels, though it received mixed reviews at the time of publication. Hurston also wrote Jonah’s Gourd Vine, Moses, Man of the Mountain, and Seraph on the Suwanee, along with folklore collections, essays, plays, and an autobiography, Dust Tracks on a Road. After falling into obscurity, her work was revived in the 1970s through the efforts of writer Alice Walker.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many books has Zora Neale Hurston written?

Zora Neale Hurston has written 64 books across eight series.

What was Zora Neale Hurston's first book?

Zora Neale Hurston’s first book is Drenched in Light, published in 1924.

What is Zora Neale Hurston best known for?

Zora Neale Hurston is best known for her 1937 novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, which is widely considered a classic of American and African American literature. She was also a trained anthropologist who collected African American folklore, most notably in her book Mules and Men (1935).

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