On Saturday May 9th, readers, scholars, authors, and artists gathered virtually to celebrate Octavia E. Butler in the second webinar in the 'Octavia Tried to Tell Us' series.
The free, weekly webinar series was organized by horror author Tananarive Due (pictured in the featured image) and religious scholar/author Monica A. Coleman.
The series has partnered with the National Museum of Women in the Arts, and the May 9th discussion featured Due and Coleman along with the Parable of the Sower opera co-writer Toshi Reagon, and Ayana A. Jamieson of the Octavia E. Butler Legacy Network.
Watch the recorded webinar below.
You can sign up for next week's event here, and submit questions you'd like to see explored in the conversation. The May 16th event will begin at 3 pm ET (12 pm PT), and feature Due and Coleman in conversation with Damian Duffy and John Jennings, the team behind the graphic novel Parable of the Sower adaptation.
Much of the May 9th conversation centered around art as a spiritual practice and a survival strategy, particularly during the turbulence of this pandemic. The speakers explore how the power of narrative as a tool for healing and change is harnessed in Parable of the Sower, and in its opera adaptation.
As Reagon explores in the webinar, Butler's apocalyptic novel prompts readers to consider how Black and Indigenous families can survive in America – a message that is particularly relevant during coronavirus.
Download Butler's seminal Parable of the Sower today.
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Featured still of Tananarive Due via Zoom
