Octavia E. Butler

Octavia Estelle Butler (June 22, 1947 – February 24, 2006) was an American science fiction and speculative fiction author who won Hugo, Locus, and Nebula awards. In 1995, Butler became the first science-fiction writer to receive a MacArthur Fellowship.

Born in Pasadena, California, Butler was raised by her widowed mother. She was extremely shy as a child, but Butler found an outlet at the library reading fantasy, and in writing. She began writing science fiction as a teenager. Butler attended community college during the Black Power movement in the 1960s. While participating in a local writer's workshop, she was encouraged to attend the Clarion Workshop which focused on science fiction.

Butler sold her first stories soon after, and by the late 1970s had become sufficiently successful as an author to be able to write full-time. Her works are widely read, with several series remaining popular well after her death including Parable of the Sower, the Patternist series, and the Xenogenesis trilogy -- all of which deal with themes that critique authority and social order, and follow main characters surviving despite being challenged by societal norms.

Butler's books and short stories drew the favorable attention of critics and the public, and awards soon followed. She also taught writer's workshops, and spoke about her experiences as an African American, using such themes in science fiction. Subsequent science fiction authors working in subgenres like Afrofuturism, often credit Butler as important influences. She eventually relocated to Washington. Butler died of a stroke at the age of 58. Her papers are held in the research collection of the Huntington Library in San Marino, California.