Parable of the Talents, a novel by Octavia E. Butler, published in 1998, portrays a dystopian United States under the control of Christian fundamentalists. The group, known as "Christian America," is led by President Andrew Steele Jarret, whose slogan is "Make America Great Again." — Read the rest

"All that you touch you Change. All that you Change Changes you. The only lasting truth is Change. God Is Change." —Octavia E. Butler

In just a few short weeks, Kindred, a novel by Octavia E. Butler published in 1979, will be released on Hulu as a T.V. — Read the rest

Octavia Butler's Parable books are having a bit of a renaissance. Originally published in 1993 but set between 2024 and 2027, Parable of the Sower finally made it onto the New York Times Bestseller List this year—and Butler didn't even live to see it happen, having passed away in 2006. — Read the rest

Octavia Butler was the first science fiction writer to win a MacArthur "Genius" Fellowship — a particularly impressive feat, considering the hurdles that have traditional stood in the way for both women, and Black people, in publishing and elsewhere. 11 years later, she died of a stroke at the age of 58. — Read the rest

In 2017, musician/activist Toshi Reagon began creating an operatic stage adaptation of Octavia Butler's The Parable of the Sower  — the 1993 Afrofuturist sci-fi novel about an America in the year 2020 that's ravaged by climate change and income inequality and greedy politicians who appeal to imaginary racists pasts while also promising to build a wall around the wealthy. — Read the rest

Seven Stories press just released this gorgeous boxed set of Octavia E. Butler's Parable novels. It's available today and would make a great gift for any reader.

This boxed set pairs the bestselling Nebula-prize nominee, Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents, which together tell the near-future odyssey of Lauren Olamina, a "hyper-empathic" young woman who is twice as feeling in a world that has become doubly dehumanized.

As part of the renaissance in interest in the glorious science fiction novels of afrofuturist pioneer Octavia Butler (previously), Seven Stories press has just released a two-volume, slipcased set of Butler's fantastic post-apocalyptic adventure novels The Parable of the Sower (with an introduction by Gloria Steinem) and The Parable of the Talents (with an introduction by Toshi Reagon).

Octavia Butler (previously), the brilliant Afrofuturist, McArthur Genius Grant-winning science fiction writer, died far, far too soon, leaving behind a corpus of incredible, voraciously readable novels, and a community of writers who were inspired by her example.

Macarthur "genius prize" recipient Octavia Butler (previously) is one of science fiction's most important figures, an author who wrote cracking, crackling, accessible and fast-moving adventure stories shot through with trenchant and smart allegories about race, gender and power (I like to think of her as "woke Heinlein").

Octavia Butler is a name to conjure with: the first African-American woman to rise to prominence in science fiction, Butler's fiction inspired generations of writers by mixing rousing adventure stories with nuanced, razor-sharp parables about race and gender in America; she was the first science fiction writer to be awarded the MacArthur Genius Grant, and her sudden and untimely death left a hole in the hearts of her readers, proteges and admirers.

Jaimee Hills writes, "Gerry Canavan has done a short writeup in an academic publication called The Eaton Journal of Archival Research in Science Fiction on the (amazing) contents of the Octavia E. Butler papers at the Huntington Library in San Marino, California."

The Hooded Utilitarian is hosting an online roundtable on the work of Octavia Butler, one of science fiction's greatest writers, and also one of the first women of color to attain widespread recognition in the field. The initial installment, from Qiana Whitted, is a challenging, sharply critical essay about the ways that Butler's work (including Fledgling, a book I very much liked) literally nauseated the writer, and what that says about both Butler and her critics. — Read the rest

The Seattle Parks Department wants to know what to name a new park, and one of the choices is science fiction hero Octavia Butler. Take the survey here. (via IO9)

Rina writes,

Saturday is Litquake Day!

And we have a very special reading for you.

Color Me SF: The Science Fiction Worlds of Octavia Butler and Carl Brandon

Our guests reading will be Jewelle Gomez & Claire Light. There will also be discussion on Butler and Brandon,and Q & A moderated by Terry Bisson.

In February, we brought you the sad news that Octavia Butler, the genius science fiction writer, had died unexpectedly.

Now a charitable scholarship has been founded her name. The Octavia E. Butler
Memorial Scholarship Fund will "will enable writers of color to attend one of the Clarion writing workshops, where Octavia got her start." — Read the rest

Steve sez, "The Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame in Seattle, of which Octavia Butler was an Advisory Board member, is holding a public memorial at the Museum tomorrow at 7:30 PM, including readings of favorite passages from her writings by fellow local science fiction authors." — Read the rest

Henry Jenkins of MIT's Comparative Media Studies program has posted a bunch of Octavia Butler related material in Ms Butler's memory. Octavia Butler was the first widely read African American woman science fiction writer, and her works wrapped up complex treatments of gender and race in palatable, fast-paced sf stories. — Read the rest

Octavia Butler, the brilliant science fiction writer, reportedly died on Saturday following a fall that was followed by fatal bleeding in her skull gave her a fatal concussion. Butler was the incredible writer who was the first genre author to win the MacArthur Foundation's "Genius" grant. — Read the rest

Octavia Butler's first book in seven years is the new vampire novel Fledgling, and it was worth the wait. Butler built her reputation by writing fantastic adventure novels that contained subtle, considered and complicated stories about race politics (Butler is one of a sadly small number of African-American writers in science fiction). — Read the rest

Brain damage is associated with increased religious fundamentalism, according to a new study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Researchers analyzed brain lesions in two groups of patients: Vietnam War veterans and people from rural Iowa with brain injuries that affect areas involved in reasoning, belief formation, and moral decision-making. — Read the rest