octavia butler

  • Seattle Reads: Read Deeper

    Whether the 2024 Seattle Reads selection of Parable of the Sower was your introduction to the work of Octavia Butler or you’re a long time fan of the author, I hope you’re enjoying diving into Butler’s world of speculative fiction. Her creative and sometimes terrifying visions of the future, centering of Black experience, dreams of anti-hierarchical… Continue reading

  • Celebrating Seattle Reads and ‘Parable of the Sower’ With Performances, Panels and a Party

    The Library’s annual Seattle Reads program usually culminates with several days of events featuring the selected author and book. This year, our citywide book club is celebrating the 2024 selection, Octavia Butler’s “Parable of the Sower,” with more than two months of performances, panels and discussions that will be held in collaboration with community organizations… Continue reading

  • Change In A Time Of Longing

    While browsing Instagram the other day, I came across a post from Sonya Renee Taylor, author of The Body Is Not An Apology: The Power of Radical Self Love, that called out the collective longing to return to our normal state for what it is: a longing to return to a world that “normalized greed, inequity, exhaustion,… Continue reading

  • Science fiction and fantasy books about change

    During these times of uncertainty, many of us are looking to our favorite writers for comfort and guidance. For decades, speculative-fiction writers have shown themselves to be especially well-versed in the subject of uncertainty, using their magical worlds to explore social problems and existential questions that complicate our daily lives. Here are three science fiction… Continue reading

  • OverDrive Comics and ‘The Best We Could Do’

    The Seattle Public Library has physical comics for children, teens, and adults available for checkout in all of our 27 locations, as well as through our mobile services. We also have comics available through our Hoopla Digital service. But did you know, amongst all of the mysteries, memoirs, and literary fiction e-books, that we also… Continue reading

  • Beyond and After Butler

    -posted by Veronica H. Octavia Butler is a giant in science fiction and fantasy and her legacy is far-reaching. Her importance to the genre cannot be overstated. In honor of the recent Door to a Pink Universe Flash Fiction contest, I wanted to highlight some authors who are following in Butler’s footsteps and changing the… Continue reading

  • Send us a story: Door to a Pink Universe

    I hid out in a big pink notebook….I made myself a universe in it… ~Octavia Butler The operative word is open. Open the door. Enter. I don’t have to tell you, traveler, that a library is a vast, uncharted tendril of time. Have you not traversed, at least, two worlds, to arrive at the hive?… Continue reading

  • Science Fiction Friday: Writers Write

    By Richard C. “Serious writers write, inspired or not. Over time they discover that routine is a better friend than inspiration.” —Ralph Keyes NaNoWriMo may have come to a close, but that’s all the more reason for writers to retain momentum. Did you submit to the library’s self-publishing contest or hear about Write out of this World?… Continue reading

  • Science Fiction Fridays: Fifty shades of the fantastic

    The hottest book right now, for better or for worse, is Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James. It’s not really surprising that book is so popular. The combination of intense interpersonal drama and steamy erotica makes it a perfect book for word-of-mouth recommendation.   However, we science fiction and fantasy fans want a little… Continue reading