Women’s History Month’s Feature: Octavia E. Butler, Science Fiction Author

Hello book lovers! In celebration of Women’s History Month, I would like to present to you, science fiction author, Octavia E. Butler. Winner of multiple awards including the Hugo and Nebula awards, Butler became the first science fiction writer to receive a MacArthur Fellowship in 1995.   

She published her first book in 1976, Patternmaster, about people with telepathic powers. Since then, some of her other works have been adapted and are in development for various platforms: Amazon Prime Video (Wild Seed, 1st in the Patternist series – Viola Davis and Julius Tennon’s JuVee Productions); Amazon Studios drama series (Dawn – Ava DuVernay and Victoria Mahoney); and most recently, FX TV pilot (Kindred – Branden Jacobs-Jennings). 

In 2020 and fourteen years after her death, she finally made the New York Times best seller list (The Parable of the Sower, 1993). This was something she had envisioned many years ago. And most recently, NASA has honored her by informally naming the landing site of the Mars over Perseverance after her. Although she is gone, she will definitely not be forgotten as a visionary and the “mother” of Afrofuturism (1947 – 2006). 

WRITING TIP: When writing science fiction novels remember to tell an intriguing story by creating an interesting world laced with intricate details and well-developed characters.