Feminist foremother Zora Neale Hurston has a lot to say to the next generation.
Dear friends,
“There is no agony,” Zora Neale Hurston wrote, “like bearing an untold story inside you.” Our hearts beat to these words; they cut to the very core of the Feminist Press mission. And no book more perfectly embodies our radical legacy than I Love Myself When I Am Laughing… And Then Again When I Am Looking Mean and Impressive, an anthology of Hurston’s writing that spans her impressive career as a journalist, essayist, ethnographer, fiction writer, and all-around literary legend.
Now that Zora Neale Hurston has secured her rightful due as a groundbreaking American writer, it’s hard to believe that her work fell into obscurity after her death—or that she was buried in an unmarked grave. It wasn’t until the 1970s, when Alice Walker went on a quest to recover her lost foremother, that Hurston’s singular voice thundered back into public discourse.
I Love Myself When I Am Laughing, the first posthumous anthology of Hurston’s writing, inspired a rising tide of Black feminist readers, writers, and intellectuals, including FP’s own Executive Director Jamia Wilson, who grew up with the book on her mother’s shelf.
So it’s with the greatest honor and exhilaration that we’re reissuing this FP classic in January 2020, our fiftieth anniversary year. And we invite you to help us carry Hurston’s words to the next generation of readers thirsty for her brilliant audacity.
Special opportunity! Give Zora Neale Hurston the utmost tribute and write yourself into this anthology’s lasting legacy. Donate $250 or more and we’ll honor your support on the book’s copyright page to inspire future generations of readers. Don’t miss this unprecedented chance to be part of a book that will change lives.
Click here to sponsor Zora Neale Hurston’s iconic anthology with a gift of $250, $100, $50, $25, or an amount that feels right to you.
Here’s to Zora and to all our feminist foremothers. May we do them justice!
With love and laughter,
The FP team—Jamia, Lucia, Jisu, Sophia, Drew, Nick, Crystal, and Lauren