Octavia Butler Classroom, first floor

This space supported by ​Bora Architecture & Interiors

Octavia E. Butler (1947–2006) was an award-winner science fiction author, and the first Black woman to receive national prominence in this genre. She was also the first science fiction writer to receive, in 1995, a MacArthur “Genius” Grant. Born in Pasadena, California, she was raised by her mother and grandmother. Her novels include Parable of the Sower (1993) and Parable of the Talents (1995), winner of the Nebula Award.  

Butler’s writing explores themes of racial justice and identity and was not commercially successful during most of her lifetime. Gaining wider recognition in later years, including a PEN America Center Lifetime Achievement Award in 2000, interest in her work continues to grow as the themes she explored have become increasingly relevant.