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With our own way of
grasping the meaning of life, the essence of existence, and an
understanding of why situations are what they are, we struggle. Each of
us deals with this struggle in a different manner: whether it’s through
confrontation, creative expression, suppression, or failure to even
acknowledge its existence. Often referred to as a kind of literary
prophet, Octavia Butler gathers her questions and uncertainties about
life into a basket woven of imagination, personal experience, and
creativity, to produce stories that attempt to assemble life’s puzzle.
She removes the reader from him/herself in order to reveal the
perverseness and flaws within certain human idiosyncrasies that are
accepted as the norm. Octavia Estelle Butler was born, on June 22, 1947,
in Pasadena, California, the only child of Laurice and Octavia Butler.
At an early age, her father passed away, leaving her to be raised by her
mother and grandmother. Witnessing her mother’s financial struggle
working as a maid, and being shy and lonely as a child, she often
daydreamed as a way of coping with the gloom of her and her mother’s
reality. She was raised in a racially mixed environment and never faced
overt acts of racism; yet, the alienation that she and her family
experienced was one that would plague Octavia as a child and birth
mind-boggling novels and short stories in her adult years.
Butler suffered from dyslexia, a disability that hindered her academic
performance in school; however, she eventually overcame the condition.
At the age of 10, she began writing short stories and spending all of
her spare time reading. By 13, she was entering writing contests
regularly and had discovered her passion for the literary genre of
Science Fiction. She attended Pasadena City College and received her
Associates Degree in 1968. Around this time, she had become interested
in being a freelance writer because she was tired of the numerous
blue-collar jobs she had maintained during her college years. Butler’s
turning point was attending the Open Door Program of the Screen Writers’
Guild of American and Clarion Science Fiction Writers’ Workshop at the
University of California in Los Angeles. There, she was encouraged by
Harlan Ellison to pursue her passion. Shortly after, she released her
debut story “Crossover” in 1971. During this time, she was also working
on her novel Kindred, which was published in 1979. After the release of
“Crossover” and Patternmaster (1976), the first of her five-volume
Patternist Series, she had begun to establish herself in the literary
world. Entering a genre that has been historically dominated by the
white male presence was like walking on water: something that no one
expected or believed was possible. Octavia’s unique style of science
fiction has earned her acclaim and respect from numerous critics and
authors in the Science Fiction genre and the title of “grande dame of
science fiction.” Perhaps the greatest flattery (and success) is the
emergence of more African-American authors in science fiction such as
Tananarive Due, L.A. Banks, and Nalo Hopkinson: all of whom have drawn
inspiration from Butler’s works.
What enables Butler to be the only African-American, female writer to
make a living by writing Science Fiction? Why is she one of two notable
(the other being Samuel Delaney) African-American authors in Science
Fiction? The answer appears simple: the fact that so few
African-Americans permeate the realm of science fiction makes Octavia
Butler stand out. But it’s more than that. She is an outstanding
American writer. Not just an outstanding African-American writer or just
an outstanding female writer. Although she is classified as Science
Fiction, she conveys the most realistic and basic aspects of humanity in
her novels through the exploration of subjects not usually addressed in
Science Fiction. Butler delves into the issues of racial inequality,
politics, sexuality, sexual identity, and gender through the synthesis
of spiritualism, mysticism, mythology, and intellectual explorations of
alien perspectives. She writes of the future by interweaving the past
with present conditions. In the midst of inexplicable time travel and
men giving birth to children, destruction of the earth and the seizure
of humans by aliens, Butler uncovers the flaws that lie within the human
race… as a whole. This ability has earned her several awards including
the James Tiptree Award, Nebula Award, Hugo Award, Locus Award, and the
“genius grant” from the MacArthur Foundation. All from a woman who
writes in order to grapple with her difficulty in understanding the
world…
Works by Octavia Butler include: From the 5 Volume Patternist Series:
Patternmaster, Mind of My Mind, Survivor, Wild Seed, Clay’s Ark, From
the Earthseed Series: Parable of the Sower, Parable of the Talents, From
the Xenogenesis Trilogy: Dawn: Xenogenesis, Adulthood Rites, and Imago,
Kindred, Bloodchild and Other Short Stories |
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