American · 1947–2006
Octavia E. Butler grew up shy, dyslexic, and Black in Pasadena, California, and became the first science fiction writer to receive a MacArthur 'genius' grant. She worked at a succession of temporary jobs to support her writing, rising at 2 AM to write before dawn. Her Patternist, Xenogenesis, and Parable series explore power, adaptation, and what it means to be human in worlds that demand transformation. Kindred, her most widely read novel, made slavery visceral for a generation of readers. She remains the most important Black woman in the history of science fiction, and her influence continues to grow.