Octavia e butler dawn

Octavia Estelle Butler (1947–2006), often referred to as the “grand dame of science fiction,” was one of the few Black women writers in that genre. She was the author of many novels including Dawn, Wild Seed, Parable of the Sower, and Kindred

DuVernay, Victoria Mahoney and Charles D. King round out the all-Black creative team developing the first book in Butler's "Lilith's Brood" trilogy into a television series.

Cover Matters is a new monthly feature in which we examine the medium that is first contact between a reader and a book: the cover. This feature will dedicate more separate space to a topic that has always intrigued, irked, and befuddled us. We will be talking about issues such as whitewashing practices, covers in poor taste, misleading or completely inaccurate covers, clichéd covers and, of course, covers that manage to get it right. We plan on having guests (bloggers, authors, cover…

Octavia Butler's editor looks back at some of the worst — and best — out-of-print covers for the late author's influential books.

Octavia E. Butler: Xenogenesis

It's impossible to overstate the impact of Octavia E. Butler. Throughout her writing career, the science fiction legend gifted us with prophetic dystopias, like in Parable of the Sower; twists on classic vampire tales, like in Fledgling; and compelling new alien forms, like in Dawn. With these strange and fascinating new worlds, Butler brilliantly examined social hierarchies, family ties, and community-building in the face of hardship. She also centered Black women in a way that wasn't…

Survivor - Octavia Butler

Science fiction may be great at creating far-out worlds, alternate realities, and unimaginable futures, but for a genre that's celebrated for its creativity and inventive style, it sure does like one particular kind of protagonist: caucasian,…

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