The Friendship of Zora Neale Hurston & Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings

Anna Lillios, author of Crossing the Creek: The Literary Friendship of Zora Neale Hurston and Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, discusses these two women and what is known about their complex friendship.

The lunch and learn on Friday includes a tour of the Peña Peck house, a buffet picnic lunch, and a talk with Anna Lillios, an associate professor of English at the University of Central Florida. Lillios is the editor of the Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Journal of  Florida Literature, and the executive director and trustee of the Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Society.

Hurston and Rawlings met at the height of their literary careers and had a warm friendship, despite Rawlings's traditional and racist southern worldview. Lillios examines their friendship and how it served to transform Rawlings and her views on race.

Admission: $35.00 per person. Tickets can be purchased online here.

When: Friday, March 1, 2024, 11:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Where: The Peña Peck House, 143 St. George Street, St. Augustine

This event is one of several highlighting the Peña Peck House Special Exhibit: The Special Women. Another Lunch and Learn will be held on Saturday, March 2. To learn about Saturday's Lunch and Learn, go here.