She was raised by women
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
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- Photo Credit: British Lion Films
She was bullied
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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Detail of a page from Octavia Butler's notebook.
Photo Credit: ctavia E. Butler papers. The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.
