Comments on: OEB Day!

By: Thiemba

Thiemba — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 11:32:06 +0000

It’s been close to 3 years and I still get watery eyes just thinking about that brilliant woman. Her book Imago, the last book in the Xenogenesis series, spoke to me and allowed me to see my own orientation in words woven and ‘spoken’ beautifully in a way that helped me to find my own voice in writing and in life. I miss her so much and I regret that I never got to hear her speak in a public setting.

I hope to walk in her footsteps as a writer and move people with my words the way she moved me.

By: Cocoa Fly

Cocoa Fly — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 03:00:34 +0000

Nice post. You’re blessed to have met her. Ms. Butler did so much in the literary world and for writers of color.

By: ChloeMireille

ChloeMireille — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 15:08:19 +0000

I discovered Octavia Butler the year after she died. I’d read her obit in the newspaper, and actually said out loud, “Holy crap, there’s a Black woman who writes sci-fi?!” Just reading about her resonated so much with me because I’d spent my entire adolescence being the only Black kid at my school who liked science fiction, fantasy, and comic books.

After reading her obit, I went on a mad search for her writings. The book I wound up finding was a combined printing of her Xenogenesis trilogy. I thought it was a brilliant way to combine race, gender, sexuality, love, and acceptance without being preachy or heavy-handed.

I just wish that she didn’t have to die for me(and other people) to discover her.

By: Links and Things « Enter the Octopus

Links and Things « Enter the Octopus — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 14:43:41 +0000

[...] Nisi Shawl on “remembering Octavia Butler” [...]

By: Katie

Katie — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 04:24:21 +0000

I loan out (and then end up having to re-buy) her books regularly, spreading the OEB gospel, so to speak.

I met her briefly when she and Samuel Delany did a joint conversation series thing at the Natural History Museum in DC a few years back. I have never been so nervous in my life – I just sort of stood near her while she worked through the line of people waiting for her autograph. I remember her wonderful voice and presence and have always considered anyone who knew her personally to be the luckiest of folk.

I’m glad she had as good friends as you, Ms. Shawl.

By: Nisi Shawl

Nisi Shawl — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 21:05:20 +0000

Nojojojo, she was always so gracious when in company. I’m betting she would have put you right at ease. Re-visualize the encounter with that in mind. Maybe make a story of it?

Yes, she left a lot of children behind. One of the people who was lucky enough to study under her like you did, Lori, called her “Mamatavia.”

The sorrow can surprise you. I gave out a pendant to one of last year’s Butler scholars during the last party of the Clarion West season, then had to go cry in a back room about how unfair it was that Octavia had died. (The pendant, btw, was created by the mighty Laurie Eddison using a cast she had designed for Octavia.)

Good on you, z7evenpetalz, for spreading the work re: her work.

By: z7evenpetalz

z7evenpetalz — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 16:07:10 +0000

Octavia Butler changed my life. The first OEB book I read was “Wild Seed” I was 18. By then I had always been an avid reader but reading her books made me feel like I had just learned how to read, lol. She had a beautiful mind and although I didn’t know her personally I loved her and I miss her like you miss an old friend you lost touch with. Her legacy of books is a legacy I make an effort to pass on to whoever I can in hopes their lives can benefit as much as mine has just from reading her work. She is definitely missed.

By: Hypatia

Hypatia — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 12:46:43 +0000

I have only read her work, but she is a writer whose voice stays with you once you’ve read her words. I hadn’t realized how young she was. Too young.
Happy birthday, Ms. Butler. You are missed, but your work is alive.

By: Lori S.

Lori S. — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 21:35:53 +0000

I went to a show, QPocalypse Now! on Saturday night here in San Francisco. Maybe I shouldn’t've been surprised, but I was taken off-guard by the show’s invocation of Octavia as a POC apocalyptic prophet (via the Parable books). There was her face, up on the video screen, two days before her birthday. There was her voice in the background, speaking low and serious and thoughtfully. And suddenly I missed her more fiercely than I think I ever have before. I was in tears last night just recounting it.

I didn’t know her well, but she was my instructor at Clarion, and that goes deep. She taught me well, and I admired her and felt close to her in a certain way. She was Important to me as a person who is a writer (rather than just as a writer, if that makes sense).

I was in tears last night, but today I am smiling at how lucky we all were to have had her at all, and how well-loved and well-remembered she is.

By: nojojojo

nojojojo — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 21:35:03 +0000

Damn skippy.

I had the chance to meet Octavia at Readercon a few years ago, and I chickened out — too shy, too awestruck, unsure of what to do other than go up to her and babble something inane and then burst into grateful tears. I told myself I’d wait ’til I had something worth saying — like, “Ms. Butler, I want you to know that I became a science fiction writer because of you, and I just got my first short story published.” Then I would feel worthy of approaching her. But she died before I could see her again, and I’ve been kicking myself for my stupidity ever since.

I hope she knows that she left a lot of children behind. And we all miss her terribly.