Call for Nominations: Zora Neale Hurston Prize

AFS welcomes submissions from across the field for the Zora Neale Hurston prize before the deadline of August 15th. The prize is given to a graduate or undergraduate student for the best work in any medium—including but not limited to papers, films, sound recordings, or exhibitions—on African American folklore. This prize of $250 is named for the pioneering folklorist, ethnographer, and creative writer who lived from 1891 to 1960, worked in and wrote extensively about African American communities throughout the southern U.S., and is internationally known for her folklore collection Mules and Men (1935) and her novel Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937), as well as other notable works.

Works submitted for prize consideration do not have to be about Hurston herself. One of the past prize-winning works was a graduate research paper that resulted in a thesis, another was a course paper written by a graduate student and later published as an article in the journal Southern Folklore, and the most recent was an ethnography project conducted by an undergraduate student for a senior seminar course.

The next deadline for nominations is August 15. Please submit your nomination via the AFS prize application form. Visit Zora Neale Hurston Prize to view past prize recipients.