Imagining a Writer's Colony Created by Zora Neale Hurston on Her 134th Birthday

by DuEwa Frazier IG @nerdacityarts

Today is the Genius of the South, Zora Neale Hurston’s birthday. My favorite writer, Zora didn’t do subtleties - she was a beautiful storm in literary form. Her novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937), is perfect in every way. Perfect in its voice, plot, characterization, omniscient narration, settings, and complexities in language.

What else can we learn from Zora Neale Hurston? She wasn’t just a master novelist; she was also a master of short prose, comedy, playwrighting, folklore, gaining funding for her work, and a master at staying one step ahead of everyone else who thought they had her all figured out.

If Zora were here today, I believe she would champion Black women writers and create a writer’s colony of her own. I also think she would be living by the motto, “Rest and resist.”

What would the Writer’s Colony be called? Zora’s Place? Zora’s Colony? There are so many names that might fit.

Envisioning a writer’s colony run by Zora. Located in Florida, of course, which is warm, sunny, and close to Zora’s roots. I think the writer’s colony would be donation-based for writers, but grant-funded by organizations and individuals who Zora was close to. The colony would be ideal for writers of all genres and especially marginalized voices of all backgrounds and identities. Zora would not exclude anyone. Would you need to submit writing samples? Of course? Would you need an MFA or prior fellowships? Heck NO! Lol.

I think she would be the ultimate host, but in a way that makes you feel like it’s your home. I believe Zora would live on the grounds and that the food served would be straight from her gardens, cows, pigs, and chickens. But for breakfast, Southern-style grits and ham are definitely on the menu. Remember, this is Zora from Eatonville.

Zora’s colony has plenty of land. Because after all, Zora is a prosperous writer who invested. I see wide open grassland, horses, and fruit trees. Zora would occasionally teach a master class. But she might mostly show up at dinner time to sit comfortably in the main den, smoke a cigarette, and tell eye-opening and hilarious stories to the writers about her many travels, how her works were published, who her greatest loves were, and of course what she’s working on now - because yes, she’s still writing!

Collected artifacts, artworks, and other keepsakes would adorn the walls of the colony, even the most memorable ones she collected in the South and in Haiti.

Otherwise, Zora would leave writers to think, rest, and write, making full use of the bountiful natural environment and the supportive space.

The colony would be low tech, but if you really need your MacBook, you’d have to bring it yourself because Zora isn’t running up her light bill with all of that computer!

If you ever read the biography Wrapped in Rainbows written on Zora’s life by notable writer, Valerie Boyd, you will come to understand Zora’s passions and her struggles to make it as an artist. The life of a Black woman and a creative during Zora’s time wasn’t easy, but she achieved more than most. This is why I think Zora would create a fantastic writers’ colony because she knows what it took for her to write in less-than-ideal circumstances.

I have taught Zora’s notable novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, dozens of times, both for high school students in AP English and Black literature courses at the college level. I always teach Zora’s background and where she came from, in addition to her perspective on folklore. It’s important for students to understand the perspective Zora held and how so many things impacted her worldview, like how publishing was a game, especially for a Black woman back then, and issues in racism, class, gender, educational access, and economics affected her.

Several works of Zora’s have been released in recent years, including Barracoon: The Story of the Last Black Cargo (2018) and Hitting a Straight Lick with a Crooked Stick (2020).

Were it not for renowned writer Alice Walker, who marked Zora’s gravesite, we might not know who Zora Neale Hurston is today.

In 2020, I wrote a Medium.com article about Zora and Their Eyes Were Watching God. You can check it out here.

What do you think Zora would say to us today? What is your favorite book, essay, or short story by Zora Neale Hurston? What would Zora’s writers’ colony be like?

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DuEwa Frazier is a poet, writer, speaker, scholar, digital creator, and podcast producer/host of Nerdacity, Afrofutures Pod, and others. She writes at Substack, on Medium, and she’s the founder of Black Scholars in Podcasting. Visit www.duewaworld.com for more information.