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Understanding Octavia E. Butler / Kendra R Parker.
Van Pelt Library PS3552.U827 Z84 2025
By Request
- Format:
- Book
- Author/Creator:
- Parker, Kendra R., author.
- Series:
- Understanding contemporary American literature
- Language:
- English
- Subjects (All):
- Butler, Octavia E.
- African American women authors--Biography.
- African American women authors.
- Science fiction, American--Women authors--Biography.
- Science fiction, American.
- Speculative fiction, American--Women authors--Biography.
- Speculative fiction, American.
- Physical Description:
- xiii, 186 pages ; 23 cm.
- Place of Publication:
- Columbia, South Carolina : University of South Carolina Press, [2025]
- Summary:
- "New insights into the work of an acclaimed science fiction author. Octavia E. Butler (1947-2006), a pioneer of science fiction and foremother of Afrofuturism, is among the most influential science fiction writers of all time. Her work blurs the boundaries of commercial genres, exploring themes of race, gender and sexuality, religion, politics, and environment. A recipient of the MacArthur "Genius Grant" and PEN America Lifetime Achievement Award, Butler is best known for her novels Kindred (1979), Parable of the Sower (1993), and Fledgling (2005). In Understanding Octavia E. Butler, Kendra R. Parker surveys Butler's life, career, and major works, highlighting her ongoing interest in Black peoples' pasts, presents, and futures. After a biographical introduction, Parker evaluates Butler's career chronologically and thematically, with chapters covering her engagement with the African American literary tradition, her romance novels, and her nonfiction"-- Provided by publisher.
- Contents:
- An introduction to Octavia E. Butler
- The 1970s : a breakthrough decade
- The 1980s : perfecting her "adapt or die" refrain
- 2006 : a (bitter)sweet 16
- "Where I actually say so" : lessons from her freedom narratives
- "This time, I want a love story" : her early romance novels
- Word weaver, world maker : the art of her nonfiction
- Afterword : living forever, leaving legacies.
- Notes:
- Includes bibliographical references and index.
- Other Format:
- Online version: Parker, Kendra R. Understanding Octavia E. Butler
- ISBN:
- 9781643365763
- 1643365762
- 9781643365770
- 1643365770
- OCLC:
- 1485122135
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