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Celebrating Octavia Butler

This year is the 10th anniversary of the great science fiction writer Octavia E. Butler's untimely death; next year marks what would have been her 70th birthday. Butler created a body of work that helped launch a new genre called Afro-Futurism

Mining the Archive of Octavia E. Butler

The papers of award-winning science fiction writer Octavia E. Butler (1947–2006) came to The Huntington in 2008. By the time the collection had been processed and cataloged, more than 40 scholars had already asked for access.

Video - Octavia Wrote Her Own Future

The exhibition "Octavia E. Butler: Telling My Stories" examines the life and work of celebrated author Octavia E.

Octavia E. Butler in Community, Then and Now

Octavia E. Butler was one of the foremost writers of speculative fiction. Her work and the story of her life compel us to reckon with power, leadership, creativity, human relationships, and the unknown possibilities that await us in the stars.

Octavia E. Butler Studies: Convergence of an Expanding Field

Inspired by the award-winning speculative fiction author Octavia E.

Interview with Octavia E. Butler Fellow Alyssa Collins

Alyssa Collins, assistant professor of English language and literature and African American studies at the University of South Carolina, is The Huntington's first Octavia E. Butler Fellow for the study of the renowned science fiction writer.

Interview with Octavia E. Butler Fellow Lois Rosson

Lois Rosson, The Huntington’s 2023–24 Octavia E. Butler Fellow, discusses her experience at NASA, her study of astronomical illustrations as extensions of the frontier West, and Butler’s alternative vision of space.

President’s Series: Octavia E. Butler’s Parables: A Music Talk with Toshi Reagon

Toshi Reagon, acclaimed composer and lyricist, discusses her operatic adaption of Octavia E. Butler's science fiction novel Parable of the Sower with special guests.

President's Series: Inspired by Octavia E. Butler - A Handful of Earth, A Handful of Sky: Lynell George in conversation with William Deverell and Karla Nielsen

Writer Lynell George discusses her forthcoming book, A Handful of Earth, A Handful of Sky: The World of Octavia E.

Press Release - Exhibition on Octavia E. Butler to Explore Life and Work of Celebrated Science Fiction Author

A new exhibition opening this spring at The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens examines the life and work of celebrated author Octavia E. Butler (1947–2006), the first science fiction writer to receive a prestigious MacArthur “genius” award and the first African-American woman to win

News Release - As Part of Its Centennial Celebration, The Huntington Seeds a New Fellowship in Honor of Octavia E. Butler

As part of its Centennial Celebration, The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens has announced the creation of a one-year fellowship for the study of Octavia E. Butler (1947–2006)

News Release - The Huntington Awards Octavia E. Butler Fellowship to Alyssa Collins

The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens announced today that it has awarded Alyssa Collins, assistant professor of English Language and Literature and African American Studies at the University of South Carolina, a yearlong Octavia E. Butler Fellowship for the study of the renowned science fiction writer.

Mentoring in the Afterlife

When it came to finding the confidence to publish her writing, science fiction writer Octavia E. Butler (1947–2006) could count on herself for a pep talk. "I shall be a bestselling writer," she wrote in one of the notebooks contained in her papers.

Telling Her Stories

The Huntington is launching the first major exhibition on the life and work of award-winning science-fiction writer Octavia E. Butler (1947–2006), whose literary archive resides here. She was the first science fiction writer to receive a prestigious MacArthur "genius" award and the first African American woman to win widespread recognition writing in that genre.

Instagram Takeover with Lynell George

Yesterday, we handed The Huntington's Instagram account over to journalist and essayist Lynell George, who spent the day sharing photos of items in the archive of famed science fiction writer Octavia E. Butler.

Writing Herself In

The Huntington's Education staff recently formed a partnership with WriteGirl, a Los Angeles–based creative writing and mentoring organization that, according to the WriteGirl website, "launched in December 2001 to bring the skills and energy of professional women writers to teenage girls

Telling Their Stories

As acting president of The Huntington, I am having the great pleasure of immersing myself in the wide-ranging activities that take place in this extraordinary institution. Our exhibitions program is chief among them, as it showcases both our research and educational missions.

Seeing to It

Chicago-based collage artist Candace Hunter first started reading Octavia Butler's speculative fiction as an undergraduate. Themes from Butler's writing permeated Hunter's work through the years and reached a pinnacle with the opening this summer of her solo show

Recorded Programs: Aug. 26–Sept. 23, 2020

Home to gorgeous gardens, spectacular art, and stunning rare books and manuscripts, The Huntington also offers an impressive slate of programs

President's Series: Parable of the Sower, A Graphic Novel Adaptation

Radical Reproduction

Amy Kind, professor of philosophy at Claremont McKenna College, and Shelley Streeby, professor of ethnic studies and literature at the University of California, San Diego, explore futuristic notions of family and reproduction i

A Handful of Earth, A Handful of Sky

In her life and work, Octavia E. Butler strove to embody what could be.Author and journalist Lynell George, a 2017–18 Alan Jutzi Fellow at The Huntington, has been working with the Octavia E. Butler archives for four years. The result is a very personal book, A Handful of Earth, A Handful of Sky: The World of Octavia E. Butler (Angel City Press, 2020), in which George describes how she came to know and identify with Butler

Kindred: A Graphic Novel Adaptation

Based on the acclaimed science fiction novel Kindred by Octavia E.

Making History Personal

It's one thing to read about history in a school textbook. It's quite another thing to engage with it first-hand: to make personal connections with history and, by doing so, to gain perspectives on the past.

Stories Worth Revisiting

Before we bid farewell to 2017 and welcome 2018, we'd like to highlight several stories published over the past 12 months that are among our favorites. We launch our retrospective with one of our most popular stories of the year, an exploration of the tiny winged creatures known as fairies