![]() ![]() Not only is black injustice a common theme in Butler’s literature, but she also includes feminism alongside black injustice. Since the struggles that Butler’s mother faced as a working black woman in the sixties are nearly parallel to Butler’s themes, it is safe to say Butler made black injustice a clear topic in her work, especially in Kindred. Butler also states Kindred was a response to the events and actions that took place during the sixties, a time when African Americans were treated poorly. In an interview with Randall Kenan, Butler explains how her mother did domestic work and “was around sometimes when people talked about her as if she were not there” (Kenan 496). The influence behind writing Kindred and other novels came partially from Butler’s perception of her mother’s life. Her breakthrough novel Kindred is great example of showing this as it incorporates elements of slave stories. One major issue that appears in Butler’s work is the mistreatment towards people of color, based on her familiar experiences with discrimination. As time went on, social issues, such as feminism and racial discrimination, became more relevant and Butler’s work came to light. During her early years, Butler’s novels did not receive much recognition as the content she wrote about did not pique anybody’s interest at the time. What makes her work different from the typical fantasy novel is her inclusion of social issues like black injustice and feminism. Butler is known for writing novels with science fiction and fantasy elements. “Then she would get up early in the morning-two or three o’clock-and write before going to work.When an author starts writing works of literature, each piece of work will most likely have similar themes or fall under similar genres of literature. She held menial day jobs “to keep her head above water,” writes McIntyre. “I didn’t sell another word for five years.” “I thought I was off, I thought I was a writer,” said Butler in a 2003 interview. Screenplays have strengths, but ‘deep’ and ‘complex’ aren’t high on that list.” Nevertheless, Ellison recommended Butler for the Clarion Science Fiction Writers Workshop.Īfter leaving the workshop, Butler sold two short stories (one to Ellison). “Her subjects and ideas and expressions were deep and complex. “Harlan that she wasn’t a very good screenwriter, which doesn’t surprise me much,” recalled friend and fellow sci-fi writer Vonda McIntyre. In 1969, she was discovered by well-known science fiction writer Harlan Ellison at a screenwriting workshop in Los Angeles. Instead, “ Butler approached askance, choosing to write self-consciously as an African American woman marked by a particular history,” write literary scholars De Witt Douglas Kilgore and Ranu Samantrai. Of course, the world of science fiction was (and still is) dominated by white, male authors. “Gradually I learned that that wasn’t the way I wanted to write.” ![]() “I didn’t know what good writing was frankly, and I didn’t have any particular talent for writing so I copied a lot of the old pulp writers in the way I told a story,” Butler told Callaloo. She began trying to sell her science fiction writing when she was thirteen. ![]() “Butler approached askance, choosing to write self-consciously as an African American woman marked by a particular history.” She devoured everything from Theodore Sturgeon to Robert A. It didn’t matter,” she said in a 1996 interview published in Science Fiction Studies. “I read a lot of science fiction with absolutely no discrimination when I was growing up-I mean, good, bad, or awful. She would later attempt to resolve these feelings in her most popular novel, Kindred.ĭespite her dyslexia, the young Butler read voraciously. “I was around sometimes when people talked about as if she were not there, and I got to watch her going in back doors and generally being treated in a way that made me… I spent a lot of my childhood being ashamed of what she did,” Butler remembered in a 1991 interview with the journal Callaloo. Her mother did domestic work, an experience that would shape Butler’s writing. She was twelve years old and thought: “ Geez, I can write a better story than that.” ![]() Octavia Estelle Butler was inspired to write science fiction after watching a schlocky B-movie, Devil Girl from Mars. ![]()
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