#Octavia Estelle Butler

[abwwia]

Octavia E. Butler (USA, 1947 – 2006)

Octavia Estelle Butler (June 22, 1947 – February 24, 2006) was an American science fiction author and a multiple recipient of the Hugo and Nebula awards. In 1995, Butler became the first science-fiction writer to receive a MacArthur Fellowship. via Wiki

[kingsbridgelibraryteens]

Middle School Monday: Star Child: A Biographical Constellation of Octavia Estelle Butler by Ibi Zoboi 

The first unusual thing you’ll notice about this book is the title, which will make you wonder … what’s a “biographical constellation,” anyway? The next unusual thing you’ll notice will be the format of this book. It includes prose, poetry, photos, handwritten pages, quotations, and drawings. The book also contains some visual surprises, like a “Star Child” poem in the shape of a star, and several “Moon Child” poems that fit into a circular space. 

Octavia Butler was a black female author who was most famous for her science fiction stories, which made her very unusual. Many parts of Star Child are named after her book titles, like Earthseed, Parable of the Talents, and Kindred.

This book covers many important milestones of Octavia’s life, which Zoboi shares through both poetry and prose. One of the most effective additions to this book are the pieces of writing in Octavia’s own handwriting -- my personal favorite is the “I am a Bestselling Writer” note, which she wrote to herself when she was an aspiring novelist!

Give this book to older kids and younger teens who are looking for books about science fiction, aspiring authors, famous African Americans, and women who exceeded expectations!

[eleanor-arroway]

Octavia E. Butler wrote Star Trek fanfiction!

From her biography in the Modern Masters of Science Fiction collection by Gerry Canavan:

"She especially adored The Twilight Zone and Star Ward, with a crush on William Shatner secretly recorded in her diaries using codenames (a common practice for her); the Huntington even has among its papers a Star trek fan fiction composed sometime between her late teens and the sale of her first novel."

[reasoningdaily]

Star Child: A Biographical Constellation of Octavia Estelle Butler

Star Child: A Biographical Constellation of Octavia Estelle Butler

From the New York Times best-selling author and National Book Award finalist, a biography in verse and prose of science fiction visionary Octavia Butler.

A Coretta Scott King Author Honor Book A Walter Dean Myers Honor Book

Acclaimed novelist Ibi Zoboi illuminates the young life of the visionary storyteller Octavia E. Butler in poems and prose.

Born into the Space Race, the Red Scare, and the dawning Civil Rights Movement, Butler experienced an American childhood that shaped her into the groundbreaking science-fiction storyteller whose novels continue to challenge and delight audiences 15 years after her death.

Cover art 2022 by Zharia Shinn

click the title link to Download for FREE from The BLACK TRUEBRARY

[sistahscifi]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, OCTAVIA ESTELLE BUTLER!

June 22nd, 2024 would have Butler's 77th birthday. Her work, from Parable of the Sower to Wild Seed, continues to impact disciplines from literature to entrepreneurship to space travel. Last Tuesday, Butler's essay, "A Few Rules for Predicting the Future" originally included in @Essence in 2000, was published by @chroniclebooks with beautiful Afrofuturist artwork by Manzel Bowman (@artxman).

Butler's writing inspires activists from @ToshiReagon to Alexis Pauline Gumbs (@alexispauline), @adriennemareebrown, @WalidahImarisha to Gabrielle Wyatt Gardner (@glwyatt). Reagon created the cultural experience Parable of the Sower The Opera, which engages with communities to take meaningful actions towards climate justice. Alexis Pauline Gumbs, adrienne maree brown, and Walidah Imarisha published the "Octavia Butler Strategic Reader" and "Octavia's Brood." Gabrielle Wyatt Gardner founded The Highland Project, a nonprofit investing in the sustainability and multi-generational visions of Black women leaders designing solutions for structural change.

Swipe to be inspired by Butler's powerful call to "write yourself in," check out her literary canon, and admire artwork from "A Few Rules For Predicting the Future!"

Let us know how Octavia E. Butler inspires your life and work in the comments!

Attribution:

Image 1: @leadhighland

Video: The Charlie Rose Show, @PBS

Image 2: @theelithouse feature books published by @orbitbooks_us @hachetteus @7StoryPress

Image 3: Chronicle Books

#TheeLitHouse #octaviabutler #octaviaebutler #bestbookstackever #bookstagrammers #blackbookstagrammer #blackgirlsread #octaviaebutler #sistahscifi #Afrofuturism #ParableoftheSower #OctaviasBrood #TheHighlandProject #blackOwnedBookstore

[moneeb0930]

#BlackWomensHistoryMonth : Octavia Butler was committed her life to turning speculative fiction into a home for Black expression. She became the first Black women science fiction author to be granted a MacArthur fellowship, and the first Black woman to win Hugo and Nebula awards.

Octavia Estelle Butler was born in Pasadena, California where as a little girl, she struggled with dyslexia while attending public school. Her teachers interpreted her slower reading as an unwillingness to do the work rather than a sign of her struggles with dyslexia. When she was given books to read in school, she found them boring and unrelatable but was interested in going to the library and reading unique stories. She had an endless appetite for stories and frequently made up her own while sitting on her grandmother’s porch. by the time she was ten she could be found carrying around a large notebook, writing down stories whenever she got a free moment. Whenever she wrote stories for school, they were so unusual that many of her teachers assumed she had copied them from published works. One teacher recognized her talents and encouraged the then 13-year-old Butler to submit one of her stories to a science fiction magazine for publication. That submission was the first of many and solidified her desire to—and her belief that she could—become a professional writer.

In 1968, Butler graduated from Pasadena City College with an Associate's Degree. She then continued taking classes, first at California State University in Los Angeles and then at the University of California at Los Angeles. She took writing classes but also studied anthropology, psychology, physics, biology, and geology, among other subjects and workshops. While attending The Screen Writers’ Guild Open Door Program, Octavia had sold her first two stories. Despite her success with the short stories, she struggled to get other stories published. After a series of rejections, she shifted gears and tried to write her first novel. That first manuscript was purchased by Doubleday and published in 1976.

In 1979, Octavia wrote 12 more books including ‘Kindred’. She often said she was inspired to write ‘Kindred’ when she heard young African Americans minimize the cruelty and severity of enslavement. She wanted younger readers to know not only the facts of enslavement but what it felt like, making sure to humanize those who survived the exploitative institution. ‘Kindred’ is now a mainstay in many high school and college classrooms.

Octavia won numerous prestigious awards for her writing. In 1995, she was awarded a MacArthur “Genius” Grant—the only science fiction writer to receive this award. She won Nebula and Hugo Awards, the two highest honors for science fiction, a PEN Lifetime Achievement Award, and the City College of New York’s Langston Hughes Medal in 2005. As a pioneer in science fiction, she opened up the genre to many other African American and female writers. Today, her influence spans literature, genres and media. “Do the thing that you love and do it as well as you possibly can and be persistent about it.” - Octavia Butler

[kemetic-dreams]

Author Octavia E. Butler Author (1947–2006)

Known for blending science fiction with African-American spiritualism. Her novels include Patternmaster, Kindred, Dawn and Parable of the Sower.

Writer Octavia Estelle Butler was born in Pasadena, California, on June 22, 1947, later breaking new ground as a woman and an African American in the realm of science fiction. Butler thrived in a genre typically dominated by white males. She lost her father at a young age and was raised by her mother. To support the family, her mother worked as a maid.

As a child, Octavia E. Butler was known for her shyness and her impressive height. She was dyslexic, but she didn't let this challenge deter her from developing a love of books. Butler started creating her own stories early on, and she decided to make writing her life's work around the age of 10. She later earned an associate degree from Pasadena City College. Butler also studied her craft with Harlan Ellison at the Clarion Fiction Writers Workshop.

To make ends meet, Butler took all sorts of jobs while maintaining a strict writing schedule. She was known to work for several hours very early in the morning each day. In 1976, Butler published her first novel, Patternmaster. This book would ultimately become part of an ongoing storyline about a group of people with telepathic powers called Patternists. The other related titles are Mind of My Mind (1977), Wild Seed (1980) and Clay's Ark (1984). (Butler's publishing house would later group the works as the Patternist series, presenting them in a different reading order from when they were chronologically published.)

In 1979, Butler had a career breakthrough with Kindred. The novel tells the story of an African-American woman who travels back in time to save a white slave owner—her own ancestor. In part, Butler drew some inspiration from her mother's work. "I didn't like seeing her go through back doors," she once said, according to The New York Times. "If my mother hadn't put up with all those humiliations, I wouldn't have eaten very well or lived very comfortably. So I wanted to write a novel that would make others feel the history: the pain and fear that black people have had to live through in order to endure."

For some writers, science fiction serves as means to delve into fantasy. But for Butler, it largely served as a vehicle to address issues facing humanity. It was this passionate interest in the human experience that imbued her work with a certain depth and complexity. In the mid-1980s, Butler began to receive critical recognition for her work. She won the 1984 Best Short Story Hugo Award for "Speech Sounds." That same year, the novelette "Bloodchild" won a Nebula Award and later a Hugo as well.

In the late 1980s, Butler published her Xenogenesis trilogy—Dawn (1987), Adulthood Rites (1988) and Imago (1989). This series of books explores issues of genetics and race. To insure their mutual survival, humans reproduce with aliens known as the Oankali. Butler received much praise for this trilogy. She went on to write the two-installment Parable series—Parable of the Sower (1993) and Parable of the Talents (1998).

In 1995, Butler received a "genius" grant from the MacArthur Foundation—becoming the first science-fiction writer to do so—which allowed her to buy a house for her mother and herself.

[the-badger-mole]

Parable of the SciFi Nerd

Octavia Estelle Butler, named for her mother Octavia Margaret and her grandmother Estella, is the triumph of the Black Girl Nerd.

The shy, bookish daughter of a family a mere one generation removed from sharecroppers, was born in Pasadena, CA in 1947. From a young age, she used books as an escape, even carrying around a pink journal where she would write down her dreams and short stories.  “I usually had very few friends, and I was lonely,” Butler said. “But when I wrote, I wasn’t.”

In her pursuit of literary escape, Octavia discovered science fiction. Through the works of authors like Theodore Sturgeon, Ursula K. Le Guin and Frank Herbert, Octavia found refuge in a childhood full of bullying and isolation. When she was 12, she saw this truly heinous film called The Devil Girl From Mars and proceeded to write what I can only assume was a fix-it-fic inspired by it (really what she said was the the movie was so bad, she was certain she could tell a better story, but come on...she wrote proto-fanfic. She was probably down with FFN and LiveJournal). When she discovered that she could actually make money with her writings, the fuse was lit.

Octavia Butler would go on to write 12 novels and a collection of short stories, including Kindred, The Parable series, and The Patternist series, which includes my personal favorite Butler work, Wild Seed. Octavia Butler would become the first black woman to have a scifi novel published, and is hailed as the Mother of Afro Futurism.

The world lost a shining talent on February 24, 2006 when Octavia died of what has alternatively been reported as a stroke or a head injury resulting from a fall. Although in her lifetime, Octavia's work had been underappreciated, more and more people are encountering her work and several adaptations of her novels have been planned, starting with Hulu's Kindred adaptation, which was released in December 2022.

[cotecoyotegrrrl]

Author Octavia E. Butler Author (1947–2006)

Known for blending science fiction with African-American spiritualism. Her novels include Patternmaster, Kindred, Dawn and Parable of the Sower.

Writer Octavia Estelle Butler was born in Pasadena, California, on June 22, 1947, later breaking new ground as a woman and an African American in the realm of science fiction. Butler thrived in a genre typically dominated by white males. She lost her father at a young age and was raised by her mother. To support the family, her mother worked as a maid.

As a child, Octavia E. Butler was known for her shyness and her impressive height. She was dyslexic, but she didn't let this challenge deter her from developing a love of books. Butler started creating her own stories early on, and she decided to make writing her life's work around the age of 10. She later earned an associate degree from Pasadena City College. Butler also studied her craft with Harlan Ellison at the Clarion Fiction Writers Workshop.

To make ends meet, Butler took all sorts of jobs while maintaining a strict writing schedule. She was known to work for several hours very early in the morning each day. In 1976, Butler published her first novel, Patternmaster. This book would ultimately become part of an ongoing storyline about a group of people with telepathic powers called Patternists. The other related titles are Mind of My Mind (1977), Wild Seed (1980) and Clay's Ark (1984). (Butler's publishing house would later group the works as the Patternist series, presenting them in a different reading order from when they were chronologically published.)

In 1979, Butler had a career breakthrough with Kindred. The novel tells the story of an African-American woman who travels back in time to save a white slave owner—her own ancestor. In part, Butler drew some inspiration from her mother's work. "I didn't like seeing her go through back doors," she once said, according to The New York Times. "If my mother hadn't put up with all those humiliations, I wouldn't have eaten very well or lived very comfortably. So I wanted to write a novel that would make others feel the history: the pain and fear that black people have had to live through in order to endure."

For some writers, science fiction serves as means to delve into fantasy. But for Butler, it largely served as a vehicle to address issues facing humanity. It was this passionate interest in the human experience that imbued her work with a certain depth and complexity. In the mid-1980s, Butler began to receive critical recognition for her work. She won the 1984 Best Short Story Hugo Award for "Speech Sounds." That same year, the novelette "Bloodchild" won a Nebula Award and later a Hugo as well.

In the late 1980s, Butler published her Xenogenesis trilogy—Dawn (1987), Adulthood Rites (1988) and Imago (1989). This series of books explores issues of genetics and race. To insure their mutual survival, humans reproduce with aliens known as the Oankali. Butler received much praise for this trilogy. She went on to write the two-installment Parable series—Parable of the Sower (1993) and Parable of the Talents (1998).

In 1995, Butler received a "genius" grant from the MacArthur Foundation—becoming the first science-fiction writer to do so—which allowed her to buy a house for her mother and herself.

[tyrograph]

Patternmaster (2023) by African American textile artist, Bisa Butler (born in 1973)

Fabric portrait of multiple award-winning African American science fiction author, Octavia Estelle Butler (1947-2006) (no relation).

Cotton, silk, velvet, vinyl, lace tulle, glass beads and rhinestones, quilted and appliquéd. (Bational Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC)

In Bisa Butler’s bright quilt rendering, Patternmaster, the author, whose dystopian fictions chillingly mirror much of our world today, looks skyward, glitter accents her hair, and a flying saucer adorns her blouse. The New York Times originally commissioned the artwork in 2022 for a cover story.

Butler is known for complex world-building while incorporating themes such as racial injustice, gender inequality, environmental degradation, genetic engineering, and human (and sometimes alien) evolution.

In that same world-building vein, Bisa Butler used various materials to build this stunning portrait of Octavia Butler. Her layering of fabric and materials mimic the layering of human emotion, speculative fiction, and fantastical scenarios that make Octavia Butler's writing so engaging. Talk about the portrait matching the person. This is it.

Source: attucksadams com

[ackb]

2022 Reading Challenge Report

Creating this spread in my journal has become a highlight of my year. Past efforts are here: 2019, 2020, 2021. Each year I spend a little more time on my mini cover drawings and each year I'm a little happier with how they turned out.

My reading goal for the year was 100 books and I barely made it: 101. I had to really book it to reach my goal (heh, see what I did there)

Some years it's sort of hard to pick my "Best Books", but this year it was relatively easy. Eight books in particular really stood out. I could have just left it at eight, but there were two additional authors that I came across this year that I read several books by and am quite sure I will continue gobbling up their oeuvres as long as I can. (I've never in my life seen that word as a plural—can that be right?) So as a 9th pick, I just named them both: Ashley Herring Blake and Alexis Hall. I read several of Blake's books this year that would have absolutely changed my life if they'd been around when I was a kid/teen and Hall is here because literally everything he writes is fucking hilarious.

The full list with metrics are after the jump:

My top 8 and other stand outs are in bold below

Non-Fiction (23)

Star Child: A Biographical Constellation of Octavia Estelle Butler, Ibi Zoboi

How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America, Kiese Laymon

(gn) The Drawing Lesson, Mark Crilley

The Art of Visual Notetaking: An Interactive Guide to Visual Communication and Sketchnoting, Emily Mills

(gn) Windows on the World, Robert Mailer Anderson, Jon Sack, Zack Anderson

All Boys Aren't Blue, George M. Johnson

Black Widow: A Sad-Funny Journey Through Grief for People Who Normally Avoid Books with Words Like "Journey" in the Title, Leslie Gray Streeter

(gn) WE HEREBY REFUSE: Japanese American Resistance to Wartime Incarceration, Frank Abe, Tamiko Nimura, Matt Sasaki (Illustrator), Ross Ishikawa (Illustrator)

(gn) Wake: The Hidden History of Women-Led Slave Revolts, Rebecca Hall, Hugo Martinez (Illustrator)

(gn) Kid Gloves: Nine Months of Careful Chaos, Lucy Knisley

(gn) Foundations of Chinese Civilization: The Yellow Emperor to the Han Dynasty, Jing Liu

Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company that Addicted America, Beth Macy

Unbound: My Story of Liberation and the Birth of the Me Too Movement, Tarana Burke

(gn) Go to Sleep (I Miss You): Cartoons from the Fog of New Parenthood, Lucy Knisley

Notes on Grief, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

(gn) The Black Panther Party: A Graphic Novel History, David F. Walker, Marcus Kwame Anderson (Illustrations)

BLUU Notes: An Anthology of Love, Justice, and Liberation, Takiyah Nur Amin, Mykal Slack, eds.

(gn) Passport, Sophia Glock

Revolution in Our Time: The Black Panther Party's Promise to the People, Kekla Magoon

(pb) Nicky & Vera: A Quiet Hero of the Holocaust and the Children He Rescued, Peter Sís

Refugee High: Coming of Age in America, Elly Fishman

(pb) Afghan Dreams: Young Voices of Afghanistan, Tony O'Brien, Mike Sullivan

(pb) Wishes, Mượn Thị Văn, Victo Ngai (Illustrator)

Fiction (59)

Red at the Bone, Jacqueline Woodson

American Street, Ibi Zoboi

Husband Material, Alexis Hall

Rise to the Sun, Leah Johnson

(gn) The Last Session, vol. 1, Jasmine Walls, Dozerdraws (Illustrations)

The Galaxy, and the Ground Within, Becky Chambers

(gn) The Montague Twins: The Devil's Music, Nathan Page, Drew Shannon (Illustrations)

Record of a Spaceborn Few, Becky Chambers

Something Fabulous, Alexis Hall

Honey Girl, Morgan Rogers

(gn) Fantasmas, Raina Telgemeier

Purple Hibiscus, Chimamanda Ngoni Adichie

The Violence, Delilah S. Dawson

(gn) Coven, Jennifer Dugan, Kit Seaton (Illustrations)

Children of God, Mary Doria Russell (re-read)

Boyfriend Material, Alexis Hall

Skye Falling, Mia McKenzie

Liar & Spy, Rebecca Stead

The Sparrow, Mary Doria Russell (re-read)

A Psalm for the Wild Built, Becky Chambers

(gn) Oddball: Sarah Scribbles #4, Sarah Andersen

Girl Made of Stars, Ashley Herring Blake

Everything, Everything, Nicola Yoon

A Closed and Common Orbit, Becky Chambers

(gn) Slaughter House Five, Ryan North (adaptor), Kurt Vonnegut Jr., Albert Monteys (Illustrations)

Pretend I'm Dead, Jen Beagin

(gn) The Crossover, Kwame Alexander Dawud Anyabwile (Illustrations)

Don't Check Out This Book, Kate Klise, Sarah Klise (Illustrations)

Light From Uncommon Stars, Ryka Aoki

The Mighty Heart of Sunny St. James, Ashley Herring Blake

Hang the Moon, Alexandria Bellefleur

(gn) Alice in Leatherland, Iolanda Zanfardino, Elisa Romboli (Illustrator)

Ivy Aberdeen's Letter to the World, Ashley Herring Blake

Delilah Green Doesn't Care, Ashley Herring Blake

The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls, Anissa Gray

(gn) Across a Field of Starlight, Blue Delliquanti

Ain't Burned All the Bright, Jason Reynolds, Jason Griffin (Illustrator)

Count Your Lucky Stars, Alexandria Bellefleur

I Kissed Shara Wheeler, Casey McQuiston

(gn) The Bride Was a Boy, Chii, Beni Axia Conrad (Translator)

Payback's a Witch, Lana Harper

The School for Good Mothers, Jessamine Chan

(gn) The Sacrifice of Darkness, Roxane Gay, Tracy Lynne Oliver, Rebecca Kirby, James Fenner

Read Between the Lines, Rachel Lacey

The Ex-Girlfriend of My Ex-Girlfriend Is My Girlfriend: Advice on Queer Dating, Love, and Friendship, Maddy Court, Kelsey Wroten (Illustrations)

(gn) A Shadow in RiverClan, Erin Hunter

How to Find a Princess, Alyssa Cole

The Girl in the Well is Me, Karen Rivers

American Spy, Lauren Wilkinson

Stay With Me, Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀

(gn) Be Gay, Do Comics, Matt Bors, ed.

(gn) Cheer Up: Love and Pompoms, Crystal Frasier, Val Wise (Illustrator)

The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet, Becky Chambers

This Winter, Alice Oseman

The Bookish Life of Nina Hill, Abbi Waxman

(gn) Stone Fruit, Lee Lai

Heartstopper, vol. 4, Alice Oseman

(gn) Squad, Maggie Tokuda-Hall, Lisa Sterle (Illustrator)

(gn) Shadow Life, Hiromi Goto, Ann Xu (Illustrations)

Read with the kids and/or for Homeschool planning (19)

Front Desk, Kelly Yang

The Midwife's Apprentice, Karen Cushman

(pb) Blue: A History of the Color as Deep as the Sea and as Wide as the Sky, Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond, Daniel Minter (Illustrator)

The Wednesday Wars, Gary D. Schmidt

(gn) Twelfth Grade Night, Molly Horton Booth, Stephanie Kate Strohm, Jamie Green (Illustrator)

(gn) The History of Western Art in Comics Part One: From Prehistory to the Renaissance, Marion Augustin, Bruno Heitz (Illustrations)

(gn) Magical History Tour #4: The Crusades, Fabrice Erre, Sylvain Savoia (Illustrator)

A Year Down Yonder, Richard Peck (re-read)

A Long Way from Chicago, Richard Peck (re-read)

The Amber Spyglass, Philip Pullman (re-read)

The Night Diary, Veera Hiranandani

The Subtle Knife, Philip Pullman (re-read)

(pb) Prisoners of Geography, Children's Ed.: Our World Explained in 12 Simple Maps, Tim Marshall

The Great Brain at the Academy, John D. Fitzgerald

(pb) The 1619 Project: Born on the Water, Nikole Hannah-Jones, Renée Watson, Nikkolas Smith (Illustrator)

(pb) Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre, Carole Boston Weatherford, Floyd Cooper (Illustrator)

The Whale Rider, Witi Ihimaera

(pb) Mr. Watson's Chickens, Jarrett Dapier, Andrea Tsurumi (Illustrator)

The Golden Compass, Philip Pullman (re-read)

(gn) = graphic novel or graphic novel format (pb) = picture book

I read 101 books this year

Authors of color: 40 Black authors: 28 Cis-women, trans & nonbinary authors: 73 Graphic novels: 34 Queer characters: 47 (34 main characters) Audiobooks: 22 Picture books: 8

Read 25 Books by Black Women Authors: Only read 23

I think next year I won't do the Black Women Authors challenge. I hope I will still read as many or at least a significant number of books by Black women, and I think it's a really great idea. I'm going to resist doing it this year, though, because I noticed a crummy impulse in myself as I was keeping track of the books, like I was "getting credit" for reading books in this category and that feels kinda gross. We'll see how I do without striving for a cookie.

I would like to read more picture books in 2023, and maybe be a little choosier about the graphic novels I read. I really love graphic novels, but I read some clunkers this year. I was also pretty light on nonfiction and I'd like to read a little more this year. In any case, I know it will be another great year of reading! See you next year!

[2pherald]

Octavia Estelle Butler - Los Angeles, California 1999

[lboogie1906]

Octavia Estelle Butler (June 22, 1947 – February 24, 2006) was a science fiction author. Multiple recipients of both the Hugo and Nebula awards, she became the first science-fiction writer to receive a MacArthur Fellowship.

She was born in Pasadena. She was raised by her widowed mother. Extremely shy as a child, she found an outlet at the library by reading fantasy and writing. She began writing science fiction as a teenager. She attended community college during the Black Power movement, and while participating in a local writer’s workshop was encouraged to attend the Clarion Workshop, which focused on science fiction.

She soon sold her first stories and by the late 1970s had become so successful as an author that she was able to pursue writing full-time. Her books and short stories drew the favorable attention of the public and award judges. She taught writer’s workshops and relocated to Washington state. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence #deltasigmatheta

[sistahscifi]

This week's Sistah Scifi Wine Down Wednesday guest is Ibi Zoboi!!!

Ibi Zoboi is a New York Times Bestselling author. Her most recent books are STAR CHILD: A BIOGRAPHICAL CONSTELLATION OF OCTAVIA ESTELLE BUTLER, and OKOYE TO THE PEOPLE: A BLACK PANTHER NOVEL for @Marvel.

Ibi is joining our month-long celebration of Octavia E. Butler's Parable of the Sower in partnership with Seattle Reads 2024 organized by The Seattle Public Library

Last week, Gwendolyn Wallace (author of Imagine New Suns, a picture book about Octavia E Butler's childhood) discussed Octavia E. Butler's legacy, Parable of the Sower, and how their work is influenced by the venerable Octavia E. Butler.

Join us: @sistahscifi | https://sistahscifi.com/pages/events

@IbiZoboi @7StoriesPress @SeattlePublicLibrary @ClarionWest @g.m.wallace @simonandschuster @helloceliaaa @haydenbadman @iaamusuem @DuttonBooks

#OctaviaButler #OctaviaEButler #Library #ParableoftheSower #SistahScifi #IbiZoboi #StarChild #GwendolynWallace #ImagineNewSuns

[uzumaki-rebellion]

Octavia Estelle Butler has never failed to call it as it is.

“‘Nothing is going to save us. If we don’t save ourselves, we’re dead.’”

— Octavia Butler, Parable of the Sower

[1000leaps]

#153 | Octavia Butler, Use What You Have

(image source) Long before becoming an established science fiction writer, Octavia Estelle Butler took on many temp jobs after graduating high school: clerical, laundry, food prep, manufacturing, warehouse logistics—she has done it all. Like Toni Morrison, Butler would wake up early before dawn to write. As biographer Lynell George wrote in “Handful of Earth, a Handful of Sky: The World of…