A Woman to Know: Octavia E. Butler
I write about people who do extraordinary things. It just turned out that it was called science fiction. — Octavia
(image by Joshua Trujillo for the AP)
The first science fiction writer to win a MacArthur Genius Grant, and one of the most respected women in the field. Octavia wrote rich, thrilling sagas that featured women of color as heroic protagonists — she called it, "writing herself in."
In the inside cover of a 1988 commonplace book, she'd written a promise to herself:
This is my life. I write bestselling novels. My novels go onto the bestseller lists on or shortly after publication. My novels each travel to the top of the bestseller lists and they reach the top and they stay on top for months (at least two). Each of my novels do this. So be it! See to it! I will find the way to do this. So be it! See to it!
Add to your reading list:
Conversations with Octavia E. Butler (Consuela Francis)
Fledgling (Octavia E. Butler)
Kindred (Octavia E. Butler)
Wild Seed (Octavia E. Butler)
Bloodchild and Other Stories (Octavia E. Butler)
Read more:
The Octavia E. Butler Papers (The Huntington Library)
Octavia E. Butler, Science Fiction Writer, Dies at 58 (The New York Times)
Archives reveal what Octavia Butler's next books would have been like (Gizmodo)
Octavia Butler, a Lonely, Bright Star of the Science Fiction Universe (The Washington Post)
Octavia Butler (Illustrated Women in History)
An Interview with Octavia Butler (Callaloo)
Celebrating Octavia E. Butler (Verso)
Listen more:
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Thank you to Jenn Amur for recommending Octavia as a woman to know! Jenn is a total newsletter pro and I love that she loves this newsletter, too. <3