IOPN is thrilled to announce the upcoming publication of Beyond NOLA: Exploring Zora Neale Hurston in Bogalusa, Louisiana’s Magic City by Sondra Bickham Washington, Assistant Professor of American Literature at Wilkes Honors College of Florida Atlantic University. Washington’s work examines the history of Bogalusa, a sawmill town in Louisiana, and its impact on Zora Neale Hurston’s research into hoodoo and African American culture. In Beyond NOLA, Washington incorporates archival, cartographic, and literary research in a multimodal digital platform to create a rich tapestry of Zora Neale Hurston’s travels to and experiences in Bogalusa. In so doing, Washington seeks to expand scholarship in Hurston Studies by moving beyond Hurston’s time in New Orleans to center the work she did in other areas of Louisiana.
“I have loved Zora Neale Hurston’s creative and scholarly work for as long as I can remember. So, when I realized that, in her letters, she mentioned Bogalusa, Louisiana, a city only a few miles from my hometown in Washington Parish, I felt compelled to explore that connection further. It is my hope that Beyond NOLA enhances scholarship on and appreciation for Hurston’s dangerous yet vital fieldwork; illuminates the importance of unconsidered cities such as Bogalusa in Hurston studies; and reminds the parish’s African American residents of our robust history, resilience, and importance to the state and country.”—Sondra Bickham Washington, Project Author
This work is a digital humanities project that originated in the History of Black Writing’s NEH Virtual Summer Institute “Hurston on the Horizon: Past, Present, and Future.” It was developed as part of a collaboration with the History of Black Writing’s Black Book Interactive Project (BBIP) Digital Publishing Scholars Program, an NEH Digital Humanities Advancement Grant, and African American Studies Publishing Without Walls 2 (AFRO-PWW 2) at the University of Illinois, funded by the Mellon Foundation. AFRO-PWW 2 collaborates with Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Black Studies scholars at PWIs, and community-based memory institutions to produce open-source digital publications that document Black lives and experiences.
Beyond NOLA: Exploring Zora Neale Hurston in Bogalusa, Louisiana’s Magic City will be published by IOPN under the Publishing Without Walls imprint’s Black Studies series in Spring 2025.