8/2/2023 0 Comments Octavia e butler landing siteI compare her actually to Mount Rainier because she was tall, but also because like Rainier, she sort of made her own weather. She was the first Black woman to win both the Hugo and Nebula Awards and in 2000, she was given the PEN American Center Lifetime Achievement Award in Writing. Her most impressive recognition came in 1995, when she became the first science fiction author to receive a $295,000 award as a prestigious MacArthur Foundation Fellow, often called a Genius Grant. "The problems that I write about are problems we could do something about, that's why I write about them." You have to think about what kind of world you want to live in and I don't think there's a person alive who would want to live in the world I've written about," Butler says in archived recording of NPR's "Throughline." "These novels are not prophetic, these novels are cautionary tales, these novels are if we are not careful, if we carry on as we have been this is what we might wind up with. 'She's the first Black superstar': The forgotten history of blues trailblazer Mamie Smith More from our spotlight series: How trailblazing journalist Gwen Ifill inspired the next generation Though former president Ronald Reagan used the phrase during his campaign as well, "MAGA" gained traction during Donald Trump's presidency. In her 1998 "Parable of the Talents," which takes place in 2032 United States, a fictional presidential candidate Andrew Steele Jarret uses "Make America Great Again" as his campaign slogan. Themes of the prison-industrial complex, science detractors and climate change are ever present in her stories. Many of her books like those in the "Parable" series are reminiscent of the times in which we currently, despite having been written decades ago. NASA names Mars landing site after her: Here’s why you should know Butler. "She was literally one of the first, if not the first, Black woman to publish in modern science fiction magazines under own name," Lisa Yaszek, regents professor of science fiction studies in the School of Literature, Media and Communication at Georgia Tech told USA TODAY last year. Jemisin and Nnedi Okorafor, to flourish in the genre. "One thing that she really instilled in me was the idea that you should write about things that bring up strong emotions in you, things that you fear, things that you loathe, things that you cherish, but things that you are passionate about in one way or another," Shawl tells USA TODAY, adding that Butler inspired her to write the short story "Momi Watu."īutler also paved the way for more science fiction female writers, like Shawl, N.K. The two became acquainted and a friendship later blossomed in 2002. Science-fiction author Nisi Shawl recalls meeting the "Kindred" author in 1999 during a convention in Seattle when she was tasked with writing a profile on Butler. She was the first to write about prominent Black characters in science fiction settings, using dystopias, time travel and other tropes. Octavia Butler inspires next generation of sci-fi writersīutler rose to prominence in the traditionally white bastion of science fiction. Butler used to write affirmations in her notebooks, one of which read "I shall be a bestselling writer." It was a recognition she foresaw long before her death. The following year, she also made USA Today's Best-Selling Books list. Multiple.ĭespite the 15 novels and two short stories she wrote, it wasn't until 14 years after her death that Butler made the New York Times Best Seller List in 2020, with her 1993 novel "Parable of the Sower" - 27 years after its publication. "My response to the movie was 'Geez, I can write a better story than that,' and I thought … 'Geez, anybody can write a better story than that,' and my final assumption, however erroneous, was 'Somebody got paid for writing that story,' " Butler said during a 2002 panel discussion at the University of California, Los Angeles.Īnd write a better story she did. She started exploring the sci-fi genre after watching what she called a "bad movie": the 1954 cult classic "Devil Girl From Mars." Though she was diagnosed with dyslexia, she was engrossed in books and was writing stories for herself at a young age. If you love science fiction, then you love Octavia Butler.īorn in 1947's Pasadena, Butler came from humble beginnings and was raised by her mother and grandmother after her father died when she was seven. Watch Video: 'Moonfall': Halle Berry, Patrick Wilson take on a lunar disasterįor Black History Month, we're sharing stories of overlooked entertainment trailblazers: those who made great strides and historic contributions to film, TV, music, literature and more.
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