Zora Neale Hurston played a big part in shaping the Harlem Renaissance, a cultural and artistic movement in the 1920s. During this time African American writers such as Hurston began to express their own culture and identity through artistic expression in record numbers. Hurston contributed to this movement in the fields of literature, folklore and anthropology. Raised in Eatonville, Florida, her novels, essays and works of short fiction were a reflection of her childhood and a celebration of rural, black communities.

Hurston collaborated with Langston Hughes in writing, "Mule Bone: A Comedy of Negro Life" (1930). Hurston and Hughes were trying to create an African-American comedy that was not based on black stereotypes, but on accurate black folk culture. By studying with a famous anthropology professor, Frank Boaz, at Barnard College and traveling to the Caribbean, Hurston connected African-Caribbean and African-American folklore. Her most famous work of fiction, "Their Eyes Were Watching God" (1937), was written during her stay in Haiti.

One of the most notable characteristics of Hurston's work was that she never focused on the racism and difficulties that blacks faced from whites. Hurston believed in celebrating black culture, and not writing critically about the black communities' harsh disparities. She was known for saying, "I am not tragically colored..." Consequently, her writing was controversial amongst black and white critics. Sadly, Hurston lost support and popularity in the literary world. She died in poverty, and was buried in an unmarked grave in Florida.

Although Zora Neale Hurston fell into obscurity later in her career, her work is revered today. Contemporary African American writer, Alice Walker, helped revive interest in Hurston's writings. In 1973, she went to Florida where she discovered and marked Hurston's grave. Today Hurston's novels and poetry are studied widely in college literature classes, women's studies and black studies courses. Many other celebrated black authors were influenced by her writings, such as Toni Morrison and Ralph Ellison. --jaime