Upcoming book signing, film screening to commemorate Zora Neale Hurston’s literary legacy

Events throughout Macon County on May 21 and 22 will commemorate the life and legacy of African-American author Zora Neale Hurston. Hurston, a native of Notasulga, Alabama, was a beloved literary figure of the Harlem Renaissance best known for her womanist prose, Their Eyes Were Watching God.

Through July 14, the Legacy Museum is also the temporary home of The Soul of Zora: A Literary Legacy through Quilts. The exhibit, which opened in March, features nine quilts inspired by Hurston and on loan from Marla A. Jackson, executive director of the African American Quilt Museum and Textile Academy Museum in Lawrence, Kansas. Each reflects the imagination and talent of nine contemporary American quilters who are committed to preserving this important art form.

“Hurston’s character, strength and wide variety of writing can be seen in these quilts — they are sure to have you standing in awe,” Collier noted.

The quilt exhibit is co-sponsored through a grant from the Alabama Bicentennial Committee, as well as a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities — the latter of which has funded the two-year grant “Literary Legacies of Macon County and Tuskegee Institute: Zora Neale Hurston, Ralph W. Ellison, Albert Murray.”

This NEH grant funding will make possible a comprehensive project producing new curricular materials, digital humanities resources, and community engagement activities focused on three 20th century authors: Zora Neale Hurston, Ralph Ellison and Albert Murray.