This book contains writings by Zora Neale Hurston when she was part of the Federal Writers' Project, a divison of the WPA, living and working in Eatonville, Florida in 1938 and 1939. The book was published in 1999, and some of the pieces had not ever been published before. There is a helpful introductory essay by Pamela Bordelon which situates this work in the context of Hurston's other folklore research and her life generally.
Here is a list of the stories you will find here: The Little Man ~ The Big Man ~ The Ugly Man ~ The Storm Met the Hurricane ~ When the Wind Blew Hard ~ A Story from Tampa ~ Big Vegetables ~ Round Ocala ~ Planting Corn ~ Sis Snail ~ God and the Devil ~ Big John the Fortuneteller ~ When John Was in Charge ~ Daddy Mention's Escape ~ Daddy Mention and the Mule ~ Why Negroes Are Black ~ The White Man's Prayer ~ Diddy-Wah-Diddy ~ Zar ~ Beluthahatchee ~ Heaven ~ West Hell ~ Jack and the Beanstalk ~ How the Florida Land Turtle Got its Name ~ Uncle Monday ~ Roy Makes a Car.
The second book is The Sanctified Church, published in 1981, which also contains Hurston's FWP writings.
This anthology is less carefully researched, and as Bordelon points out in Go Gator, some of the materials here were not actually written by Hurston, but are instead the work of other FWP writers working in Florida at the time: the "Daddy Mention" essay here is by Martin Richardson (but see the "Daddy Mention" materials in Go, Gator above for Hurston's work on this folk figure), the "Father Abraham" essay is by J. J. Johnson, and "Cures and Beliefs" come from Viola Muse. These are valuable folklore pieces to be sure, which is why I wanted to make sure to share this book, but they are not by Hurston. So, proceed with caution... but also make sure to read and enjoy the beautiful foreword by Toni Cade Bambara!
Next, I wanted to share this anthology of Hurston's stories, focused on the supernatural: The Skull Talks Back and Other Haunting Tales.
You'll find six African American folktales here: Big, Bad Sixteen ~ Bill, the Talking Mule ~ The Skull Talks Back ~ The Witch Who Could Slip Off Her Skin ~ High Walker ~ The Haunted House. The stories are adapted by Joyce Carol Thomas, a renowned African American children's book author, but she does not provide any information about the sources or contexts of the stories. So, this is a fun book to read for getting to know the stories, but they do not provide a trail to lead you back to the sources in Hurston's publications. In addition, because Thomas has changed some of the titles ("Big Sixteen" has become "Big Bad Sixteen"), it can take some sleuthing to track down the sources in Hurston. This book would be so much more useful with a guide to where to find these stories in Hurston; if I can remember (!), I'll add a list of sources here later.
The eerie illustrations are by Leonard Jenkins:
Finally, I wanted to share the monumental (1000 pages) Library of America publication: Folklore, Memoirs, and Other Writings.
Of special interest here is the section of Selected Articles, which features some of the Federal Writers Project materials, plus essays like "High John de Conquerer" and "The Eatonville Anthology."
Plus you can see all the books by Hurston at the Archive too, including not just her folklore books but her stories and novels also. This screenshot shows just a few of the many books you will find:
And you can use this link for all the posts about Hurston's books at this blog. So much Hurston goodness awaits you at the Internet Archive, all thanks to the power of Controlled Digital Lending.
by Zora Neale Hurston
by Zora Neale Hurston
by Zora Neale Hurston
by Zora Neale Hurston
