A collection of the late Zora Neale Hurston’s lost stories will be released next year.

HarperCollins’ Amistad Books, the oldest publisher devoted to multicultural writers, will publish the anthology book Hitting a Straight Lick With a Crooked Stick in January. The collection of work from the Mules and Men author will include her writings on love, migration, gender, racism, sexism and classism. It will also include eight lost stories that were found in forgotten periodicals and archives, according to VIBE.

The works will “challenge” the perception of Hurston as an “author of rural fiction” and will display her “biting, satiric humor,” according to the HarperCollins’ website. It will also include “serious tales reflective of the cultural currents of Hurston’s world.”

Born in 1891, Hurston was a prominent figure during the Harlem Renaissance. Her most well-known book, Their Eyes Were Watching God was published in 1937 but rediscovered in the 70s. The novel was adapted into a television film by Oprah Winfrey in 2005, starring Halle Berry.

Most of her work portrays Black life in the South. She also worked as an anthropologist to examine Black folklore. She was born to slaves and eventually attended Howard University where she completed her associate degree. She later graduated from Barnard College with a bachelor’s in anthropology.

The Alabama native was praised by The Color Purple author Alice Walker as “the patron saint of Black women writers.” Walker wrote the foreword for Hurston’s posthumously published book, Barracoon, released in 2018.

"This is, make no mistake, a harrowing read. We are being shown the wound," Walker writes. "However Zora Hurston's genius has once again produced a Maestrapiece. What a Maestrapiece? It is the feminine perspective or part of the structure, whether in stone or fancy, without which the entire edifice is a lie."

Hurston died of heart disease in 1960, but her gravesite remained unmarked until 1973. Her work gained more mainstream attention after her death, and she is now praised as one of the best writers of the 20th century.

Hitting a Straight Lick With a Crooked Stick will be available for purchase on January 14. The book is available for preorder for $25.99.