A Daily Dose of BHM

Octavia Butler

A daily Black History Month fact that has nothing to do with George Washington Carver, MLK, Jr., or Harriet Tubman. Promise!

Octavia Butler made her career as a science fiction writer despite the dearth of other black female authors in the genre. Butler overcame dyslexia to become a highly successful, award-winning author, publishing her first novel, Patternmaster in 1976. Butler used traditional science fiction themes to explore issues of race, sexuality, and class — in 1979's Kindred, she used time travel as a vehicle to tell a story about American slavery. In 1995, Butler became the first and only science fiction writer to win a MacArthur Foundation Genius Grant. She died in 2006 at the age of 58.

Feb 22, 2008 · posted by Lauren Williams, Stereohyped · Link · 8 Responses

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Tagged: A Daily Dose of BHM, Books, Octavia Butler

Comments (8)

No. 1 · Chic Noir

I read Kindred and I must say it was written better than any other book I have read detailing the American slavery experience. I felt like I was on a plantation while reading her book.

Posted: Feb 22, 2008 at 3:56 pm

No. 2 · Neenee

I love Octavia Butler's work I only started reading her books about 2 years ago. She has made me fall back in love with science fiction. I'm currently reading Fledgling. Its also a great read.

Posted: Feb 22, 2008 at 4:59 pm

No. 3 · summer

Kindred was the bomb!

Posted: Feb 22, 2008 at 5:35 pm

No. 4 · jazzymelanin

Loved Kindred and Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents. scifi.com did an audio version of the Kindred featuring alfre woodard, lynn whitfield, and ruby dee

There are lots of black sci fi works out there.

http://www.scifi.com/kindred/octavia.html

Posted: Feb 22, 2008 at 6:15 pm

No. 5 · blackmistressdiva

She was a great writer. An old roomie hipped me to her.

Posted: Feb 22, 2008 at 7:55 pm

No. 6 · Megs

Mind of My Mind was life-altering. But the most remartkable thing about the genius Octvia Butler was that she was dyslexic. WOW I loved that woman!

Posted: Feb 22, 2008 at 9:14 pm

No. 7 · JP

This woman was incredible. The Parable series are still my favorite books. Its a shame she wasn't more appreciated by the mainstream while she was alive.

Posted: Feb 25, 2008 at 1:38 am

No. 8 · JillyBean819

Me thinks I will have to go to the library and check out this lady's writings. I love sci-fi.

Posted: Feb 25, 2008 at 2:32 pm

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