I have only read two works by Zora Neale Hurston (Their Eyes Were Watching God and Jonah’s Gourd Vine) and loved them both. And, truth be told I didn’t read Their Eyes. My grandmother read it to me. I was having a heck of a time with the dialog and my grandmother who was from the South just did her thing. Anyway, I’ve been wanting to read more of her and I’ve decided to start in 2021.
The Zora Neale Hurston Reading Project is will be a multi-year reading project. I’m thinking maybe 2.5 years.
Why so long? you may be asking. (1) I want to spend time with her works and (2) there is a lot out there. So far, I have counted just over 60 works published in her lifetime and this number doesn’t include works that were recently discovered and published.
- 4 Novels
- 3 Non-fiction to include 1 autobiography
- 26 Short Stories
- 23 Essays
- 11 Plays
- 2 Children’s Books
The Plan: I broke the schedule up, so I’m reading a work of fiction/non-fiction, then a play, then essays, and then short stories. And, I’m trying to keep it as close to publication order as possible.
If you’d join me you can join the Storygraph group and/or follow the schedule below. I will make biweekly or monthly updates here, but if you want to see weekly updates make sure you subscribe to my Youtube channel.
| Month | Year Published | Text | Genre |
| Jan | 1934 | Jonah’s Gourd Vine | fiction |
| Feb | Jonah’s Gourd Vine | fiction | |
| 1925 | Meet Momma | play | |
| 1926 | Color Struck | play | |
| March | 1926 | “The Eatonville Anthology” | essay |
| 1928 | “How It Feels To Be Colored Me” | essay | |
| April | 1921 | “John Redding Goes to Sea | short story |
| 1924 | “Drenched in Light” | short story | |
| 1925 | “Spunk” | short story | |
| 1926 | “Magnolia Flower | short story | |
| May | 1935 | Mules & Men | non-fiction |
| June | 1926 | Spears | play |
| 1927 | The First One | play | |
| July | Characteristics of Negro Expression | essay | |
| Conversions and Visions | essay | ||
| Aug | 1926 | “Muttsy” | short story |
| 1926 | “‘Possum or Pig” | short story | |
| 1926 | “Sweat” | short story | |
| 1933 | “The Gilded Six-Bits” | short story | |
| Sept | 1937 | Their Eyes Were Watching God | fiction |
| Oct | Their Eyes Were Watching God | fiction | |
| 1930 | Cold Keener | play | |
| Nov | Shouting | essay | |
| 1934 | Mother Catherine | essay | |
| Dec | 1934 | Uncle Monday | short story |
| 1934 | The Fire and the Cloud | short story | |
| 1941 | Cock Robin Beale Street | short story | |
| 1942 | Story in Harlem Slang | short story |
The Broken Spine 