Zora Neale Hurston was born on January 7, 1891 in Notasulga, Alabama to John Hurston and Lucy Ann Potts, who were both slaves. Her mother died later in 1904, and may be the reason she wrote about Janie's mother being absent in Their Eyes Were Watching God.
From 1919-1920, she attended Howard University and ended up graduating with an Associate degree.
In 1921, she published her very first story, "John Redding Goes to Sea," in the Howard literary magazine, Stylus. This sparked her career and inspired her to write many other stories including TEWWG.
From May 19,1927-Jul 7, 1931 Hurston was married to Herbert Sheen. This brief marriage ending in a divorce could have significantly contributed to the story line of Their Eyes Were Watching God, involving a number of different marriages.
Hurston wrote and choreographed a Broadway play titled, The Great Day. It premiered on January 10, 1932.
Hurston's first novel, "Jonah's Gourd Vine", was published in May 1934. This book involved slavery and love. It involves multiple marriages and death of loved ones, which is very similar to TEWWG.
In 1937, while doing research in Haiti, she wrote TEWWG in 7 weeks.
In 1939 she got married to her second husband, Albert Price III, until they later divorced in 1943. This sadly shows that TEWWG may have predicted her real life events.
Hurston moved to Honduras in 1947 to research more about black culture in Central America, and wrote the Seraph on Swanee. She published it the next year.
In 1959 Zora Neale Hurston had a stroke and moved into a welfare home. On Jan 28, 1960 she died of heart disease. Her gravestone has writing that says, "Zora Neale Hurston: A Genius of the South."