Octavia Butler remembered on her birthday

writersJun 22, 202629908

Museums and readers are marking June 22 as Octavia E. Butler's birthday while the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture debuted Afrofuturism: A History of Black Futures, explicitly spotlighting Butler's work and influence. Butler, born June 22, 1947 and died in 2006, won multiple Hugo and Nebula awards and became the first science fiction writer awarded a MacArthur Fellowship for novels such as Parable of the Sower, Wild Seed, Patternmaster and the short story "Bloodchild." Exhibition panels and programming highlight Butler's recurring themes of power, community survival, and ecological collapse and show how those ideas are shaping contemporary Black speculative fiction and cultural conversations about climate, technology, and social justice.

LibraryThing

@librarything.com

Today is the birthday of African American science fiction author #OctaviaEButler. The winner of numerous Hugo and Nebula Awards, she was the first science fiction author to receive a MacArthur Fellowship. #💙📚 #Booksky Have you read her work? www.librarything.com/author/butle...

5072h ago

Shaun Curry10

The Parable of the Sower and the Parable of the Talents are both incredible works that, unfortunately, presaged parts of the current condition in the US.

Jan Arrah🏳️‍🌈6

Earthseed is fantastic and everyone should read it.. it may be a bit triggering for some right now.. but it's so good.

Melinda B Hipple, author&artist5

Have read Kindred and Parable of the Sower. Will be picking up Parable of the Talents soon.

Water’s Edge 🇨🇦3

The Parable of the Sower and the Parable of the talents, memorable books. Highly recommend.

Kat Christensen3

She was/is still a phenomenal visionary

Chris Pennymaker3

Oh yeah. She knew what she was talking about as much as anyone.

Patent Buddy3

"The Parable of the Sower." Octavia Butler is a genius.

Sharon Fisher2

I have! The two Parables books and Kindred.

Jeri Paull2

Just Kindred, but from this thread it looks like "The Parable of the Sower" needs to rise to the top of my TBR pile...

organicgay.bsky.social2

The first book of her's that I read was Wild Seed. The book that had the greatest impact on me was Kindred. A most terrifying read. I have never felt so much fear for a fictional character (Dana).... I urge everyone other one to read.

Penguins Against Tariffs2

First science fiction book I loved was Kindred.

Prince Fafo, First of His Name2

I have read her work & I am better for it.

Gabino Iglesias

@gabino.bsky.social

Happy birthday among the stars to the patron saint of us all, the great Octavia Butler.

831h ago

Agnieszka

@agniesz.bsky.social

They have no power to improve their lives, but they have the power to make others even more miserable. And the only way to prove to yourself that you have power is to use it. - Octavia E. Butler, Parable of the Sower born on this day, 1947 #BookSky #OctaviaEButler

5410h ago

Ray E. Boomhower

@rboomhower.bsky.social

"If there's any single talent a writer needs, it's persistence. If you can keep at your writing and you can learn as you write, you can tell any story you want to tell." Octavia Butler, born on this day in 1947

486h ago

driftglass

@driftglass.bsky.social

Tomorrow is the birthday of the late Octavia Butler who I will be featuring in Mike's Blog Roundup at @crooksandliars.bsky.social tomorrow. Here is a clip of Octavia reading from "Parable of the Talents" which she wrote in the early 1990s. Pass it on. youtu.be/e0UgiE8vYuI?...

25Yesterday

Joachim Boaz

@joachimboaz.bsky.social

Octavia E. Butler (1947-2006) was born on this day. Bibliography: www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.c... L, Alan Gutierrez, 1985; R, John Jude Palencar, 1994 #scifi #sciencefiction #books

Cover for Buter's Clay's Ark. Man walks from crashed spaceship in the desert.

175h ago

Sistah Scifi

@sistahscifi.bsky.social

🌌 June 22 belongs to the lineage. Happy Birthday to Octavia E. Butler (1947) and Ibi Zoboi (1977). One wrote the future. The other wrote Octavia back to life. Celebrate at sistahscifi.com 🤎 #SistahScifi #BlackSpeculativeFiction #OctaviaButler

113h ago

Leonard Pierce

@leonardpierce.bsky.social

Good morning! It is June 22nd in the United Socialist States of America. Today we commemorate the Day of Music. Music is the most transcendent of arts! We celebrate the eastern box turtle, terrapene carolina. Octavia Butler was born today in 1947; George Carlin died on this day in 2008.

An eastern box turtle with a dark patterned shell and brownish-orange skin walks along a rock in a zoo.

202h ago

Leonard Pierce4

In history today, a huge wave of Jamaican workers arrive in the UK from the Windrush, ultimately transforming British culture, in 1948. The noir of the day is 1948's RACE STREET, directed by Edward L. Marin for RKO and starring William Bendix, Marilyn Maxwell, and George Raft.

Dre Dre

@dataphageposs.bsky.social

#GrannySquare 19 for #BookBlanket2026 is for Patternmaster by Octavia E. Butler! Note to self: when comparing colors, turn the lights on, and turn off the night mode on the computer. Oops. Made this a while back and forgot to post. 🧶💙📚 Pattern: Aegean Square by Spincushions #crochet #booksky

Granny square pattern: Aegean Square by Spincushions from The Ultimate Granny Square Sourcebook, colors center out: mustard, plum, white, and plum

2221h ago

DD Ward ..."Sapphic Dr. DOOM"

@ddwardiswriting.bsky.social

five books {or series} to define your taste, in no particular order ✨ • Dracula by Bram Stoker • This is How You Lose the Time War by Max Gladstone and Amal El-Mohtar • The Saint of Steel Series by T Kingfisher • Wild Seed by Octavia E Butler • Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu

1423h ago

Katie Matthews, PhD

@katieocean.bsky.social

If you’re looking for your next read, might I suggest an Octavia Butler?

102h ago

A. A. Rubin

@thesurrealari.bsky.social

Happy posthumous birthday to #OctaviaButler, one of the great #sciencefiction writers. She was right, and people should have listened.

Side by side black and white quote meme: left, Science Fiction writer Octavia Butler standing in front of a bookshelf; right, text: "I realize I don't know very much. None of us knows very much. But we can all learn more. Then we can teach one another. We can stop denying reality or hoping it will go away by magic."
- Octavia Butler, Parable of
the Sower

81h ago

Writers Write

@writers-write.bsky.social

Octavia E. Butler was an American science fiction writer. She was born on 22 June 1947 and died on 24 February 2006. In this post, we look at the author's writing advice. #sciencefiction #octaviaebutler #writingcommunity #writingsky

710h ago

Princess Rebecca Frizzle (she/her) 🏳️‍⚧️💕🦕👸🐱

@rebeccabluestone.bsky.social

Octavia Butler is a complete badass. Love her work! 💜

62h ago

Daniel Bachman

@danielbachman.bsky.social

I think Octavia Butler is one of the main inspirations in my work these days. Her incorporating climate science research from the late 70s/80s into books like Parable of the Sower is STILL groundbreaking given how taboo things like that are in American culture. HBD ❤️‍🔥

10Just now

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nmaahc.si.eduRemembering Afrofuturist Octavia Butler

Octavia Butler remembered on her birthdaywriters

Octavia Butler remembered on her birthday

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