Spunk

Harlem Renaissance writer Zora Neale Hurston explores a battle between physical and moral strength in this pocket-sized short story, ‘Spunk’.

Set in an all-Black community in rural America, this short story poses the question of whether moral strength is more powerful than physical strength. Spunk Banks is described as a ‘giant’. He is unafraid of anything and when he openly flaunts his affair with Lena Kanty, Joe Kanty’s wife, the other men in the neighbourhood are afraid to confront him. Word of the affair gets back to Joe, who decides to threaten Spunk with a razor. Undeterred, Spunk shoots Joe dead and moves in with his widow. But when a bobcat begins to circle their house, Spunk becomes convinced that Joe has returned from the dead to avenge him.

Zora Neale Hurston’s short story was published in the Opportunity, A Journal of Negro Life in 1925, and later won second place in the journal’s fiction writing contest. ‘Spunk’ was also selected for publication in The New Negro, helping to secure Hurston’s successful career as a writer.

Now in a brand new pocket-sized edition featuring an introductory essay on the Harlem Renaissance, ‘Spunk’ would make the perfect read for fans of short stories and Hurston’s work.