Octavia Butler's Parable Honored
Sci Fi Author's Parable of the Sower To Be Potlatch 17 Book of Honor
The life and work of late science fiction author Octavia E. Butler will be celebrated at the Potlatch 17 speculative fiction convention in Seattle this February, 2008.
Potlatch 17, a speculative fiction convention focused on reading, talking about and writing science fiction, has chosen Octavia E. Butler's Parable of the Sower as the con's Book of Honor for 2008.
Parable of the Sower
The novel, written by the late feminist sci-fi author Octavia E. Butler, is a compelling dystopia set in a 2025 America about an empathic philosopher who creates a new religion and develops a following while fighting to stay alive in a disintegrating culture. Published in 1993, it is the first book in Butler's Parable series and was nominated for a Nebula Award.
What Does Potlatch Book of Honor Mean?
Many discussions, both informal and in panel form, at Potlatch 17 will be somehow related to Butler's novel and its themes. Participants may read from Butler's work and/or discuss Butler's life, her work in the context of speculative fiction and perhaps in the context of the world as a whole.
Who Was Octavia E. Butler?
Born in 1947 and passed away in 2006, Butler had nearly 1 million copies of her books in print and received many awards including the prestigious Hugo and Nebula awards.
She described herself in her back cover biographies (changing age and location as appropriate) as "a 46-year-old writer who can remember being a 10-year-old writer and who expects someday to be an 80-year-old writer. I'm also comfortably asocial--a hermit in the middle of Los Angeles--a pessimist if I'm not careful, a feminist, a black, a former Baptist, an oil-and-water combination of ambition, laziness, insecurity, certainty, and drive."
Butler's work has been compared to that of authors such as Ursula LeGuin, Toni Morrison and William Gibson. One thread all these literary masters share is that their work is extremely political in a very human way.
According to Felicia Pride in her eulogy entitled "Eight Reasons Why Octavia Butler Is Important", "[Butler's] writing was political without being political. Using powerful, spare language and rich well-developed characters, her work tackled race, gender, religion, poverty, power, politics, and science in a way that touched the readers of all backgrounds." And she used science fiction as her medium. What better genre for exploring the politics of her own world?
Learn more about Octavia E. Butler and Parable of the Sower at the Potlatch 17 Convention in Seattle from February 29 through March 2, 2008, at the Hotel Deca in the University District. Anyone can become a member of Potlatch and participate in the discussions revolving around this phenomenal author's work. More information is available in Potlatch 17 Sci-fi Con or Intro to the Potlatch Sci Fi Con.
Sources
Black Voices website, "Eight Reasons Why Octavia Butler Is Important", posted March 1, 2007 by Felicia Pride (accessed January 5, 2008).
Potlatch website (accessed January 5, 2008).
