Zora Neale Hurston

"Their Eyes Were Watching God" (1937) is Hurston's best-known work, telling the story of Janie Crawford's search for independence and love in early 20th-century Florida. The novel is now considered a cornerstone of African American literature and was adapted into a 2005 television film produced by Oprah Winfrey.

Alice Walker was instrumental in reviving interest in Hurston with her 1975 essay "In Search of Zora Neale Hurston," published in Ms. Magazine. Walker traveled to Fort Pierce, Florida, to find Hurston's unmarked grave and placed a headstone on it.

Yes, Hurston studied anthropology at Barnard College under Franz Boas, one of the most influential anthropologists of the 20th century. This training deeply informed her fiction, which richly incorporates African American folklore, oral traditions, and vernacular speech.

Hurston was a central figure of the Harlem Renaissance, alongside writers such as Langston Hughes and Countee Cullen. She and Hughes collaborated on the play "Mule Bone," though a falling-out over authorship ended their friendship.