Hitting a Straight Lick with a Crooked Stick
From ‘one of the greatest writers of our time’ (Toni Morrison) – the author of Their Eyes Were Watching God and Barracoon – a collection of remarkable short stories from the Harlem Renaissance
In 1925, college student Zora Neale Hurston – the sole Black student at Barnard College, New York – was living in the city, ‘desperately striving for a toe-hold on the world.’
During this period, she began writing short works that captured the zeitgeist of African American life and transformed her into one of the central figures of the Harlem Renaissance. Nearly a century later, this singular talent is recognised as one of the most influential and revered American artists of the modern period.
Hitting a Straight Lick with a Crooked Stick is an outstanding collection of stories about love and migration, gender and class, racism and sexism that proudly reflect African American folk culture. Brought together for the first time in one volume, they include eight of Hurston’s ‘lost’ Harlem stories, which were found in forgotten periodicals and archives.
These stories challenge conceptions of Hurston as an author of rural fiction and include gems that flash with her biting, satiric humour, as well as more serious tales reflective of the cultural currents of Hurston’s world.
All are timeless classics that enrich our understanding and appreciation of this exceptional writer’s voice and her contributions to America’s literary traditions.
With a foreword by Tayari Jones, author of An American Marriage
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Publishing has a diversity problem. There are less 'diverse' books being published which limits the discoverability and reach of those authors.
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An anti-racist social enterprise bookstore specialising in BIPOC books.
Only about 11% of books published are by BIPOC authors — so unless you specifically seek out books by BIPOC authors, you aren't likely to find very many of them organically. At Amplify, BIPOC authors are highlighted and celebrated. Here, they don't have to fight to be seen, and you don't have to fight to find them.
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