Even though she grew up very poor, Zora knew she was destined to be extraordinary. She wrote alongside such famous authors as Alan Locke and Langston Hughes during the Harlem renaissance. To make ends meet Zora took jobs as a housemaid and an assistant to an actress, but she never stopped writing. Her books didn't sell well during her lifetime, but ten years after her death a new generation began to see her importance to American literature.
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