Word comes from The Los Angeles Times that Octavia Butler--she who took stereotypes of science fiction writers and ate them alive--will have her legacy preserved at the Huntington Library in San Marino, California. The library also plays host to the papers of Christopher Isherwood, Charles Bukowski, and Jack London. Researchers will have access to Butler's papers next year, after the library completes processing of the 39 cartons and eight file cabinet drawers of content.
Need a Butler briefing? Check it:
The Pasadena-born Butler, the daughter of a shoe-shiner and a maid, found her voice in science fiction when few women -- and fewer African Americans -- were writing in the genre. She won two Hugo awards, two Nebula awards and was the first science-fiction writer to receive a MacArthur "Genius" grant.
... Butler, who lived alone, described herself as "comfortably asocial -- a hermit in the middle of a large city, a pessimist if I'm not careful, a feminist, a black, a former Baptist, an oil-and-water combination of ambition, laziness, insecurity, certainty and drive."
Kindred remains Butler's bestselling novel. Her final book was 2005's Fledgling. Butler died of a stroke in 2006 when she was only 58 years old. But her legacy's not just contained in her papers; her readers are passionate and articulate folks.
Take Sarah Hentges, for example, who wrote something of a love letter in "Envisioning a Better Future: Octavia Estelle Butler, 1947-2007" for PopMatters last week.
For a few years, whenever Octavia Butler’s name was mentioned by my academic/feminist friends, I would pretend I knew who/what they were talking about. Finally, I decided I would read one of her books. A few words into Dawn, and I was hooked. Butler published her first novel the year I was born, and yet it took me 30 years to find her books; but at least I could finally answer that infamous question every English major is asked: what’s your favorite author? Octavia E. Butler, hands down.
Image Credit: The Los Angeles Times
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