Octavia Butler interview - transcending barriers
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 30 มิ.ย. 2024
- In memory of Octavia Butler, we are posting this interview with her, recorded at Balticon 34, in April of 2000.
In this interview, Ms. Butler discusses issues of race, class and sex in the science fiction genre as well as society at large. She also talks about her evolution as a writer and her experience with the Clarion Writers Workshop.
We apologize for the quality of the video - this is taken from an extremely compressed version of the interview.
Parable of the sower was set in 2020....she foresaw so many of the challenges reaching their peek today. Rest in power
We'll see in 5 years. She was right on track so far.
I just finished both parable books and feel so stupid for just finding her work.
I really enjoyed the first one, moving onto the second. There is some hope in the book too remember x
I just finished reading her book and its crazy how she seen 2020
2024 she's is our prophet with parable of the sower and parable of the talents
Her comments about global warming, so many years ago and look where we are now, and her spot-on assessment of human behavior gave me goosebumps.
It's amazing how she includes this in her writing also
This is my first Octavia Butler interview. I just wanted to hear her voice. She was an amazing person with otherworldly vision and insight. She's missed. God Bless Her.
Just finished reading Kindred. Her imagination and articulation of science fiction is incomparable. Such a gifted storyteller.
shibaram Mahar 34 I didn’t necessarily learn anything new, but I also don’t think that was the intention of the narrative. It was more so an immersive experience with the character that offered me a different perception on the antebellum south.
shibaram Mahar 34 Glad you’re enjoying it!
Where can I purchase her books? Please ty
@@felinefokus I picked mine up from Barnes and Noble but I’m pretty sure most literary retailers carry her work. I’d bet Amazon has it.
@@AmariHetep okay thank you
I’m so sad that I’ve just now been introduced to this author!! I’ve been an avid sci-fi reader for decades and have never had one of her works cross my path. As a black woman myself I cherish her contribution and will work to help others in my circle know of her work and legacy!
Don’t be sad. Be glad you found it. I read the Lilith’s Brood series a few years ago for a course and was hooked. I’ve only just now read the parable books and the books are so rich. I love how simple her books are written, but how complex her ideas are by her just suggesting things. It really challenges a good reader.
It's sad because her works are film adaptation worthy, yet perhaps a good thing because a director might not capture the content accurately!
I think this woman was practically telepathic about the future. She thought her writings would be an exaggerated version of a dystopia, but her books are more historical and scientific reality than fiction. She was a genius.
Better late than never 😊
Solid Point.
I agree... stop asking her the same questions about being a Black woman who writes what some categorize as sci-fi. She's an artist, author, period. an oracle, a prophetess. amazing. I appreciate interviewers that ask about the work, specifically, and the inspirations behind it.
amen. the questions she got asked were so limited by the times. but still, she answered everything masterfully.
She is so witty. I love her.
I am so sad that only now I'm just discovering her.
Don't be sad...rejoice in the fact that you found her at the right time..
Wait for the day that you become as the people in her stories in their worst estate!
Don’t be sad, her works live on for people like you. Be happy you’ve found joy in her work x
better late than never
Honoring the Great Octavia Butler... she was way ahead of her time and a true oracle...
What’s wild is that Parable of the Sower has come true for many people migrating away from where they live now. The amount of specific realistic detail in her writing is outstanding.
ohhh man..."this isn't prophecy, I hope..." as a reader in 2021...she makes the Handmaid's Tale look like fanfic...
I began reading Octavia Butler's books over 20 years ago. She help to shape my life. I recall the Parable Series scared the living hell out of me, as I could see the possibility in it of becoming reality. And now...here we find ourselves in 2020.
all praises to her brilliance, may her legacy live on
Queen!!!
Thank you for posting! I have recently discovered Ms. Butler's work, Lilith's Brood, and wanted to learn more about her. I'm a black, female who loves scifi and I don't know any other black females who love it as much as I do. I am overjoyed to see and hear her speak! She has truly captured the essence and the purpose of this genre: to ignite thoughtful discussion about how we view ourselves, how we treat each other and the Earth we live on, and hopefully to inspire change. Her talent will be cherished for years to come. She is missed dearly.
You just found one!
Look up nnedi okorafor. She writes amazing sci fi too
@@MunachisoIlokahChukwudi Thank you! I just visited Nnedi Okorafor's website. Which one should I start out with? I finished Lilith's Brood not to long ago. I was going to read Parable of the Sower next and then check out one of Okorafor's books.
@@chaundawilson8681 i highly recommend Who Fears Death. Amazing book. Heard great things about her Binti series and plan to read those next. Loved Who Fears Death.
@@MunachisoIlokahChukwudi Ok, I'll check that out. Thanks again!
I can never explain or write how I feel, this lovely woman has made me feel it’s alright for some one’s like me to love sci fi all things sci-fi , I’m not a weirdo, thank you x
When she said she'll have a new age audience I think she's talking about people who are now discovering her books and falling in love with them
I stopped reading much SF when I went to college and discovered "real" literature in the mid-80's, just in time to miss out on the beginning of the Lilith's Brood series. I got over myself and returned to SF just a few years ago as my child discovered it, and opened Octavia Butler for the first time and it blew the doors off my mind. I wonder how my life might have been different had I discovered it at 18.
I would have loved to read a third book of the Parable series. It sounded incredible.
She deserved so much more
I hope you look down on the world and see how you're cherished!
She got a genius grant and the most prestigious science fiction awards (Nebula and Hugo). So many great writers will never be able to achieve that...
@@maryseo. valid
Ive seen many interviews where she said that she didnt believe that people didnt take her work seriously
Ie, the convo re her being a writer v a sci fi writer
Or maybe she was just an artist that was too hard on herself
I was new to Pasadena many years back and I happened upon an old cemetery near my house. I walked through it and discovered most of the tombstones were of distinguished people from our community. Octavia E. Butler, author amongst them. I had never heard of her although I really enjoy science fiction. That very same day I looked her up and started enjoying all her works! I understand her book Kindred is finally being adapted to screen!
“Just presumed to be the audience” “it was about how I was perceived” - exactly 👏🏼❤️
Just finished Kindred and Dawn, I so wish I had discovered Miss Butler sooner! Her work is so thought provoking and really stays with you. She also has a beautiful voice
What a beautiful soul. Glad I'm discovering her now🧡
I read all of Octavia E Butler’s books all over again every 2-3 years. She is my FAVORITE author, and I wish she could have lived to write more. Genius Soul! Why haven’t any of her books been made into a movie? Hmmm.....
Thank you for the upload. ♥️🌷♥️
Now they are being! WIld Seed developed by Viola Davis, screenplay written by two amazingly talented black women Wanuri Kahu and Nnedi Okorafor. And Ava Duvernay is developing DAWN as a TV series.
@@SEVENKENYA where can I find that article?! I love the wild seed series!
@@SEVENKENYA interesting
In what order do you recommend they’re read?
I’m new. I’ve only read Seed to Harvest: The Patternist Series
I loved her honesty about the security , benefits and repect given by the money the award granted to her... A great human being!!!!
It’s 2024 now, the year Parable of the Sower begins, and she was right about everything. I love this woman.
When she died SO far before her time, the world became a much poorer place. But it's richer for her having been in it. She, Tiptree, and LeGuin are the gods of SF.
Godesses
You have an enormous audience now, I wish you were here to see it💔❤️❤️
I recently read both the Parable of the Sower and the Parable of the Talents. I enjoyed reading them both as well as listening to her in this interview. I am so inspired by Octavia Butler.
I hope someone begins creating movies of her work.
💛
i would say that the Xmen movies derive a lot from her work or maybe it's just coincidence
@@sfebon what about them are dirived? ive only read lilith's brood
@@dylanb.8459 the Apocalypse story arc. Bears striking similarities
@@dylanb.8459 Also the community of people with supernatural abilities collected from their life among the 'muggles'. I can see some influences from the Wildseed Series
@@valeriy8502 thats great thank you. the only connection i was drawing was that x-men and her work are that they are sci fi about racism
Just discovered her work. I think she's quite brilliant.
Recently discovered her short story "Speech Sounds" collected in The Wesleyan Anthology of Science Fiction. It's very comforting to see someone in the genre who looks like me. I'll definitely be sharing.
Please any link to download ?
So blessed to have discovered her work
Crazy how she nailed Global Warming and this entire reality. I love OEB 💕
Thank you so very much for sharing this video and keeping it up. Octavia E. Butler changed my life. She has been a cherished author and role model. I still weep at losing her from this world.
Thank you for sharing this. I love her work.
i wish she was still alive and writing
She was a prophet.
@@nicolemccray8095 god is change
This is my first time knowing about this author. I got one of her books. Kindred is a good book.
I love Octavia butler but I wish these interviewers had read her stuff. They just don't ask the right questions. She covers some amazingly integrate subjects and they all gloss over it. I wish Joe Rogan had been able to interview her.
Hahahaha i agree with your first comment but assume youre taking the piss re Joe Rogan! Joe is an absolute faux intellectual moron who swings his views based on what someone told him that week
Jacky T 🗣 true
So true. Listened to Charlie Rose and both don't seem to have read her work. I struggle to call it sci fi, because isn't so focused on technology but human nature, as if it might have evolved differently. Just finishing Kindred, which is terrifying, illuminating and brutally honest. Its futurism, like Janelle Monae, Missy Elliott and other artists who explore limitless worlds by being limitless.
she was and remains such a force. what a legend, what a legacy. but above all, what a body of work!
May your legacy live forever, as it should!
she is a saint in this industry and i like the fact that those of us that know her work we can FEEL the true meaning. thank god mainstream Salt and Mayo doesn't know her and i hope it stays that way .
All that you touch You Change. All that you Change, Changes you. The only lasting truth is Change. God is Change.
This Woman is Brilliant...AND.I have not read anything by her YET...But her books are next in line
Devour them, you won't regret it
I suggest Blood Child. Four and a half very different, very bleak stories.
Love her work! ❤
It's one of life's biggest ironies that you're not very appreciated until after you leave this world. We're dropping flowers on her gravesite now (so to speak). I wish i was aware of her literary works when she was still alive for some odd reason. The same thing i could say about James Baldwin and Zora Neale Hurston.
Thanks for sharing this
So smart and thoughtful in every response.
We were lucky to have her for as long as we did.
I love her. I have all her books. Reading her patternist series now! The way her Parable books reflect what’s currently happening in the world today is spooky.
Tananarive Due is another author I read after I read and re-read Octavia Butler, Nnedi Okorafor, N.K Jemisin.
Don't forget Nalo Hopkinson
Yes!
@@isabellafelipedeoliveiraca6698 yes!
@@isabellafelipedeoliveiraca6698 I didn't forget, yet I never re-read her books. They were wonderful but not books that I revisited. but yes Nalo is an amazing author as well.
Just read both books! This should on the summer reading list for 2021, and every year hereafter.
I'm pretty sure "The Walking Dead" was motivated by the Parables
What a lovely interview
Brilliant mind
Thank you for continuing to post this.
Thanks for sharing
Damn talking about being a trailblazing innovating barrier breaking ground shaking black woman woooe
I'm currently reading Parable of the Sower and i cant wait to read the second book man i wish there was a third but something about it not being complete has a poetic feel to it...RIParadise 🌹🙏🏿
i adore her voice... i think i will read her books now. well. once i find them.
If you haven't read her short story collection, "Bloodchild," you really need to.
Just finished Parable of the Sower. Moving on to Talents soon.
On the one hand, yeah it sucks that I didn't find this sooner.
But honestly, I wasn't *ready* for this book before this time.
This is the slow motion apocalypse.
ugh, i love her work. wish i would have been able to meet her
Learning all I can about her.
This woman is fascinating. Her comment on global warming was prescient and a bit sad because what she feared might happen has happened. Hopefully staring into the precipice will wake people up. All of the "ism's" have to put aside because we have to work as one if we are going to have a functioning civilization not too far down the road.
"Oh, my..."
- George Takei
This writer is brilliant.
Tomi adeyemi kinda remind me of E. Butler In the sens that she gave me the same type of feeling. Theirr confidence, their way of setting these worlds that are so vivid. I would classify children of blood and bones as sci fi post black liberation and not fantasy
What a magnificent writer.
Love Octavia♥️
I didn't know she had such a deep and rich voice!!!
I am in AWE!!✨👑👑👸🏾
I am just reading the book of Parables of shower. It so nice.
Just finished Lilliths Brood. Amazing to say the least!
When I read The Parable of the Sower it was like reading a biblical book of prophecy.
Rereading the Parable books now because of the setting in the 2020s and I'm struck by the rich irony of the term "science fiction"--more like future predicting!
#RIP Octavia. #KINDRED
A24 -- time to step up and make this movie happen A S A P -- it's already happening -- we need this excellent author's "parable of the sower" to be made into a movie to give is the commentary on our current experience and to show us the near future (it's so near you can taste it, you can hear the crowds migrating along highway 101 ...)
8:35 // 16:10 - gold quotes
cool writer, need to check it out : )
Wish she could've seen the future of her writing and how much her audience would grow
Just recently became a fan of her through her story "Bloodchild" Definitely a talented author who deserves a larger audience!
For whatever reason, I cannot remember what other Syfi books were about after a while. Not Octavia's. Parable books just left a vivid impression.
Brilliant woman! She was be pretty disappointed (rather than hopeful as she said she was here) with the current situation...
a beautiful mind indeed
Yay Writers Guild of America west!
My God she saw everything coming and used her platform to not only warn us but prepare us
Fuckk shes brilliant
Why has she had to correct him a couple of times. Did he prepare for this interview?
Caro he didn't he took her for granted
Lol... on my business card it says writer 😂
Any one know who the interviewer is?
Prophet.
15:30 There are problems now, they become disasters if we don't attend to them.
14:55 "I suppose I could tell you to take a look at Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents. ... That isn't prophecy. I *hope*."
What is the name of the interviewer?
John Pomeranz
She could of so easily been alive today i don't understand the story of her death.
The deep vertical line between her eyebrows comes from stress.
...she was a Black woman in America
Re book three: that's ok.
If our descendents ever make it off this rock, they can write it irl.
i dont believe in god but i do believe in octavia butler, toni Morrison, james baldwin, and ect...
is that tim curry
Slave fr
That is a man.