Patternmaster

Octavia E. Butler is one of the most significant literary artists of the twentieth century. One cannot exaggerate the impact she has had across canons - as creators, readers, critics, we’re still wrestling with her extraordinary work

No novel I’ve read this year has felt as relevant, as gut-wrenching or as essential… If you’ve ever tweeted “All Lives Matter”, someone needs to shove Kindred into your hand, and quickly

[Her] evocative, often troubling, novels explore far-reaching issues of race, sex, power and, ultimately, what it means to be human - New York Times

Octavia Butler was playing out our very real possibilities as humans. I think she can help each of us to do the same

OCTAVIA E. BUTLER (1947-2006) was the renowned author of numerous ground-breaking novels, including Kindred, Wild Seed, and Parable of the Sower. Recipient of the Locus, Hugo and Nebula awards, and a PEN Lifetime Achievement Award for her body of work, in 1995 she became the first science-fiction writer to receive the MacArthur Fellowship ‘genius grant’. A pioneer of her genre, Octavia’s dystopian novels explore myriad themes of Black injustice, women’s rights, global warming and political and economic disparity, and her work is taught in over two hundred colleges and universities nationwide.

In 2020, Octavia E. Butler became a New York Times bestselling author.