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In observance of Black History Month (February) and Women’s History Month (March) 2007, Public Radio International (PRI) member stations across the U.S. will begin airing the national radio documentary “The Life and Times of Zora Neale Hurston,” an absorbing hour-long examination of one of America’s most celebrated writers associated with the Harlem Renaissance. Actress VANESSA WILLIAMS hosts this new documentary, illuminating the life and works of the Florida folklorist, novelist, and playwright. The documentary also shares the insights of historians and biographers (N.Y. NATHIRI, VALERIE BOYD, ROBERT HEMENWAY, CHERYL WALL, CARLA KAPLAN), while evoking 1920s Black America through music and dramatic readings (actress RUBY DEE) of Hurston’s work.

“Zora Neale Hurston was a pioneering black woman. She was both a scholar and artist at a time when black women were expected to be neither,” says Hurston scholar Cheryl Wall. “One can see allusions to Hurston’s work in writing by Gloria Naylor, Ntozake Shange, Toni Morrison, Paul Marshall, Ishmel Reed, George Wolfe, and of course, Alice Walker. And I’m only scratching the surface of the list.” Today, Hurston is recognized as one of the most significant, most prolific, and most published black women writers of the first half of the 20th century.

Currently starring as Wilhelmina Slater in the ABC hit show “Ugly Betty,” documentary host Vanessa Williams is one of the most respected and multi-faceted performers in entertainment today, having conquered the Billboard charts, television, motion pictures, music videos, and Broadway. She has sold millions of albums worldwide and has achieved critical acclaim for her diverse performances on stage, in film, and on television.

The documentary “The Life and Times of Zora Neale Hurston” is made possible in part by PRI, Imagination Room Multimedia, and a grant from the Florida Bureau of Historic Preservation, the Florida Department of State.