She was raised by women
Detail of photograph of Butler (center) with her aunts Irma (Guy) Harris (left) and Hazel Ruth (Guy) Walker (right), photographer unknown, undated.
Photo Credit: Octavia E. Butler papers. The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.
Kindred was inspired by the time a very young Butler spent with her mother at work
A terrible sci-fi movie helped launch her career
- Photo Credit: British Lion Films
She was bullied
Detail of picture of Octavia Butler taken when she was 15 or 16, circa 1962.
Photo Credit: Octavia E. Butler papers. The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.
A classmate's comment motivated her to write Kindred
She was friends with author Samuel R. Delany
Actor Avery Brooks (L.) and Samuel R. Delany (R.) at a tribute to Octavia Butler.
Photo Credit: Houari B / Flickr (CC)
She supported herself by working as a potato chip inspector
She was given a $5,000 advance for Kindred
She was a world traveler
Butler in Machu Picchu in 1985, photographer unknown.
Photo Credit: Octavia E. Butler papers. The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.
She was the first science fiction author to win a MacArthur Genius Grant
She avoided reading critical theory about her work
Notes written by Octavia E. Butler for her novel Parable of the Talents, ca. 1996.
Photo Credit: Octavia E. Butler papers. The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens
When she moved to Seattle, she brought 300 boxes of books with her
Photograph of Octavia E. Butler seated by her bookcase, 1986.
Photo Credit: Patti Perret, photograph of Octavia E. Butler seated by her bookcase, 1986. The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.
Butler never drove
She was a fan of Fantastic Four comics and the Sookie Stackhouse novels
She was incredibly determined
Detail of a page from Octavia Butler's notebook.
Photo Credit: ctavia E. Butler papers. The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.
