Joining The Octavia Butler Book Club
“I’m a 48-year-old writer who can remember being a 10-year-old writer and who expects someday to be an 80-year-old writer.”
To call Octavia Butler a mere science fiction writer, does not do her justice. A legend, Butler transformed the genre using it merely as a way to shape and frame the very real conflicts and conversations of our day.
The Pasedena native wrote about the end of this world and allowed readers to explore new ones she created herself. But throughout she opened a free dialogue about sexual identity, race and many other often-polarizing social topics. She pushed the boundaries of a genre that had before her been associated with reclusive white male, receiveing a MacArthur
Fellowship, commonly referred to as the “genius grant” in 1995. Those within her genre recognized her talent as well and she received the 2000 Nebula Award, science fictions highest prize for her novel “Parable of the Talents.”
With her anthology of work, Butler still remains relevant today. Which is why we are thrilled to hear Letoya Peterson of Racialicous is introducing the Octavia Butler Book Club kicking off today.
Peterson writes:
The late author is a cult icon, being a boundary breaking black woman in Science Fiction who infused her writing with rich societal commentary on race, gender, dominance, and much much more….As just a casual reader before, I was suddenly confronted with the magnitude of exactly what went with Octavia Butler when she departed from this earth. So I decided the best tribute would be to read, share, and enjoy her work.
Readers, welcome to the book club.
Each month, Racialicous will be reading one book from Butler. The schedule is as follows:
- July – Wild Seed
- August – Mind of My Mind
- September – Clay’s Ark
- October – Patternmaster
- November – Kindred
- December – Survivor?; If Not, Bloodchild
- January – Dawn (Xenogenesis/Lillith’s Brood)
- February – Adulthood Rites (Xenogenesis/Lillith’s Brood)
- March – Imago (Xenogenesis/Lillith’s Brood)
- April – Parable of the Sower May – Parable of the Talents
- June – Fledgling
- July – Conversations with Octavia Butler
While I have read Dawn, I am admittedly less familiar with the full collection of Butler’s work so it will be an adventure learning more. We’re hoping that following Butler’s work through the upcoming year will give us the opportunity to learn more about her and the future she envisioned.
This is a great idea. I’m in!
This is GREAT!!!!! :) Thank you! I have been meaning to check out these books for YEARS!
I’m all for it! Hopefully my library has some of her books otherwise Amazon it is.
I’ll be joining! I think this is a wonderful idea!
I have just finished reading three more of Octavia Butler’s works, and can only say that it saddens me that this literary maven is no longer amongst us to extend her portfolio. Thought-provoking and excellently written are the very least I can say about her books. Although I was not a huge fan of “Clay’s Ark”, I have read – and am a big fan – of the majority of the other book’s mentioned. “Kindred” is haunting because of it’s plot. The “Lilith’s Brood” books take the question of a “pure” race one step further. The Parable books make us face the possibility of a “Mad Max”-like scenario not in far-away Australia, but here in the good old U.S. of A.
If at all possible, I certainly plan to check out this book club! It will be a (very!) welcome excuse to re-read Ms. Butler’s books, paying even more attention to detail and symbolism.
Thanks for bringing this to my attention!