THEIR EYES WERE WATCHING GOD

The epic tale of Janie Crawford, whose quest for identity takes her on a journey during which she learns what love is, experiences life’s joys and sorrows, and come home to herself in peace. Her passionate story prompted Alice Walker to say, “There is no book more important to me than this one.”

When first published in 1937, this novel about a proud, independent black woman was generally dismissed by male reviewers. Out of print for almost thirty years, but since its reissue in paperback edition by the University of Illinois Press in 1978, Their Eyes Were Watching God has become the most widely read and highly acclaimed novel in the canon of African-American literature.

With haunting sympathy and piercing immediacy, Their Eyes Were Watching God tells the story of Janie Crawford’s evolving selfhood through three marriages. Light-skinned, long-haired, dreamy as a child, Janie grows up expecting better treatment than she gets until she meets Tea Cake, a younger man who engages her heart and spirit in equal measure and gives her the chance to enjoy life without being a man’s mule or adornment. Though Jaine’s story does not end happily, it does draw to a satisfying conclusion. Janie is one black woman who doesn’t have to live lost in sorrow, bitterness, fear, or foolish romantic dreams, instead Janie proclaims that she has done “two things everbody’s got tuh do fuh theyselves. They got tuh go tuh God, and they got tuh find out about livin’ fuh theyselves.”

Their Eyes Were Watching God was adapted by Oprah Winfrey’s production company, Harpo, into a film for television starring Halle Berry.

Praise for THEIR EYES WERE WATCHING GOD

“There is no book more important to me than this one.”—Alice Walker

“Their Eyes Were Watching God belongs in the same category with [the works of] William Faulkner, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Ernest Hemingway, that of enduring American literature.”—Saturday Review

“[A] brilliant novel about a woman’s search for her authentic self and for real love.”—Edwidge Danticat

THE COMPLETE STORIES

“One of the greatest writers of our time.”—Toni Morrison

This landmark gathering of Zora Neale Hurston’s short fiction – most of which appeared only in literary magazines during her lifetime – reveals the evolution of one of the most important African American writers. Spanning her career from 1921 to 1955, these stories attest to Hurston’s tremendous range and establish themes that recur in her longer fiction. With rich language and imagery, the stories in this collection not only map Hurston’s development and concerns as a writer, but also provide an invaluable reflection of the mind and imagination of the author of the acclaimed novel Their Eyes Were Watching God.

EVERY TONGUE GOT TO CONFESS
Negro Folk-Tales from the Gulf States

“An extraordinary treasure.”—Boston Globe

“Imagine the situations in which these speech acts occur. Recall a front stoop, juke joint, funeral, wedding, barbershop, kitchen: the music, noise, communal energy, and release. Dream. Participate the way you do when you allow a song to transport you, all kinds of songs, from hip-hop rap to Bach to Monk, each bearing its different history of sounds and silences.”—From the Foreword by John Edgar Wideman

African-American folklore was Zora Neale Hurston’s first love. Collected in the late 1920s, Every Tongue Got to Confess is the third volume of folk-tales from the celebrated author of Their Eyes Were Watching God. It is published here for the first time.

These hilarious, bittersweet, often saucy folk-tales — some of which date back to the Civil War — provide a fascinating, verdant slice of African-American life in the rural South at the turn of the twentieth century. Arranged according to subject — from God Tales, Preacher Tales, and Devil Tales to Heaven Tales, White-Folk Tales, and Mistaken Identity Tales — they reveal attitudes about slavery, faith, race relations, family, and romance that have been passed on for generations. They capture the heart and soul of the vital, independent, and creative community that so inspired Zora Neale Hurston.

In the foreword, author John Edgar Wideman discusses the impact of Hurston’s pioneering effort to preserve the African-American oral tradition and shows readers how to read these folk tales in the historical and literary context that has — and has not — changed over the years. And in the introduction, Hurston scholar Carla Kaplan explains how these folk-tales were collected, lost, and found, and examines their profound significance today.

In Every Tongue Got to Confess, Zora Neale Hurston records, with uncanny precision, the voices of ordinary people and pays tribute to the richness of Black vernacular — its crisp self-awareness, singular wit, and improvisational wordplay. These folk-tales reflect the joys and sorrows of the African-American experience, celebrate the redemptive power of storytelling, and showcase the continuous presence in America of an Africanized language that flourishes to this day.

DUST TRACKS ON A ROAD

“Warm, witty, imaginative, and down-to-earth by turns, this is a rich and winning book by one of our genuine, Grade A folk writers.”—The New Yorker

First published in 1942 at the height of her popularity, Dust Tracks on a Road is Zora Neale Hurston’s candid, funny, bold, and poignant autobiography, an imaginative and exuberant account of her rise from childhood poverty in the rural South to a prominent place among the leading artists and intellectuals of the Harlem Renaissance. As compelling as her acclaimed fiction, Hurston’s very personal literary self-portrait offers a revealing, often audacious glimpse into the life — public and private — of an extraordinary artist, anthropologist, chronicler, and champion of the black experience in America. Full of the wit and wisdom of a proud, spirited woman who started off low and climbed high, Dust Tracks on a Road is a rare treasure from one of literature’s most cherished voices.

MULES AND MEN

“Simply the most exciting book on black folklore and culture I have ever read.”—Roger D. Abrahams

Mules and Men is the first great collection of black America’s folk world. In the 1930’s, Zora Neale Hurston returned to her “native village” of Eatonville, Florida to record the oral histories, sermons and songs, dating back to the time of slavery, which she remembered hearing as a child. In her quest, she found herself and her history throughout these highly metaphorical folk-tales, “big old lies,” and the lyrical language of song. With this collection, Zora Neale Hurston has come to reveal and preserve a beautiful and important part of American culture.

MULE BONE
A Comedy of Negro Life

By Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston

“Zora’s work will continue to be felt for years in the works of many generations of writers.”—Edwidge Danticat

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.

TELL MY HORSE
Voodoo and Life in Haiti and Jamaica

“Strikingly dramatic, yet simple and unrestrained…an unusual and intensely interesting book richly packed with strange information.”—The New York Times Book Review

As a first-hand account of the weird mysteries and horrors of voodoo, Tell My Horse is an invaluable resource and fascinating guide. Based on Zora Neale Hurston’s personal experiences in Haiti and Jamaica, where she participated as an initiate rather than just an observer of voodoo practices during her visits in the 1930s, this travelogue into a dark world paints a vividly authentic picture of ceremonies and customs and superstitions of great cultural interest.

JONAH’S GOURD VINE
A Novel

“A bold and beautiful book, many a page priceless and unforgettable.”—Carl Sandburg

Originally published in 1934, Jonah’s Gourd Vine was the first novel by the noted black novelist, folklorist, and anthropologist.

MOSES, MAN OF THE MOUNTAIN

“The real thing, warm, humorous, poetic.”—The New Yorker

In this 1939 novel based on the familiar story of the Exodus, Zora Neale Hurston blends the Moses of the Old Testament with the Moses of black folklore and song to create a compelling allegory of power, redemption, and faith. Narrated in a mixture of biblical rhetoric, black dialect, and colloquial English, Hurston traces Moses’ life from the day he is launched into the Nile River in a reed basket, to his development as a great magician, to his transformation into the heroic rebel leader, the Great Emancipator. From his dramatic confrontations with Pharaoh to his fragile negotiations with the wary Hebrews, this very human story is told with great humor, passion, and psychological insight—the hallmarks of Hurston as a writer and champion of black culture.

SERAPH ON THE SUWANEE
A Novel

“A simple, colorfully written, and moving novel.”—Saturday Review of Literature

This novel of turn-of-the-century white “Florida Crackers” marks a daring departure for the author famous for her complex accounts of black culture and heritage. Full of insights into the nature of love, attraction, faith, and loyalty, Seraph on the Suwanee is the compelling story of two people at once deeply in love and deeply at odds. The heroine, young Arvay Henson, is convinced she will never find true love and happiness, and defends herself from unwanted suitors by throwing hysterical fits and professing religious fervor. Arvay meets her match, however, in handsome Jim Meserve, a bright, enterprising young man who knows that Arvay is the woman for him, and refuses to allow her to convince him otherwise. With the same passion and understanding that have made Their Eyes Were Watching God a classic, Hurston explores the evolution of a marriage full of love but very little communication and the desires of a young woman in search of herself and her place in the world.

WHAT’S THE HURRY, FOX?

“Stories rich in insight [and] humor.”—Rocky Mountain News

Acclaimed anthropologist, folklorist, and novelist Zora Neale Hurston traveled the back roads of the rural South, collecting stories from men, women, and children in Florida, Alabama, Georgia, and Louisiana so that the spirit and richness of the African American oral storytelling tradition could be shared and preserved. What’s the Hurry, Fox? is a sampling of stories from Every Tongue Got To Confess, Ms. Hurston’s third volume of folktales collected from the Gulf states in the 1930s.

The folktales have been adapted for children by Joyce Carol Thomas, winner of the National Book Award and Coretta Scott King Honors. Illustrations by Bryan Collier, who has received both a Caldecott Honor and a Coretta Scott King Medal for his work, transport young readers to the rural communities in which Hurston culled these stories.

THE SIX FOOLS

Awarded New York Public Library’s “One Hundred Titles for Reading and Sharing”

Who’s the biggest fool?
The silly girl?
The silly man?
The silly woman?
The silly farmer?

In this outrageously funny tale, our hero finds foolish folks aplenty and true love.

During her travels in the Gulf States in the 1930s, Zora Neale Hurston recorded stories told by the people she met, to preserve their rich oral legacy. The Six Fools is one of the stories collected in Every Tongue Got to Confess, her third volume of folklore. It has been masterfully adapted for children by National Book Award winner Joyce Carol Thomas. Renowned artist Ann Tanksley puts The Six Fools in a retro 1930s setting in her brilliantly colored oil monoprints.

THE THREE WITCHES

The three bad witches are HUNGRY! “Let’s eat these children,” they say. They may have teeth that are longer than their lips and they may wear high heels, but they are NO match for two smart children, their brave grandma, three hound dogs, and a fast-running snake.

The Three Witches was first published in Every Tongue Got to Confess, the third volume of folklore collected by Zora Neale Hurston while traveling in the Gulf States in the 1930s. It has been adapted for young people by National Book Award winner Joyce Carol Thomas. The vibrant paintings have been masterfully executed by internationally celebrated artist Faith Ringgold.

LIES AND OTHER TALL TALES

What’s the shortest man you ever seen?
I seen a man so short, he had to get up on a box to look over a grain of sand.

And the fastest?
I seen a man run so hard that he lost his feets.

Back in the day, there were liars who could lie so good, you didn’t even want to know the truth. And we have Zora Neale Hurston to thank for collecting their stories. In Lies and Other Tall Tales, Caldecott Honor and Coretta Scott King Honor artist Christopher Myers has created expressive collages that are as bold and wild as the whoppers Hurston encountered on her travels in the Gulf States. Here’s a visual treat that will tickle your funny bone.

THE SKULL TALKS BACK
And Other Haunting Tales

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.