Octavia E. Butler Literary Society
@oebsociety.bsky.social
A gathering place for academics, writers, readers, and future enthusiasts of Octavia E. Butler's work. Our primary goal? To preserve the legacy and life of this influential author. http://linktr.ee/oebliterarysociety
The Octavia E. Butler Literary Society is hoping to organize 1-2 panels for the 38th Annual American Literature Association Conference to be held in Boston, MA, May 26-29, 2027. Learn more: oebsociety.substack.com/p/oebls-at-a... #OctaviaButler #conference #earthseed
Call for Papers! Check out the CFP for the Routledge Companion to Octavia E. Butler. Abstracts due September 1, 2026. Access the CFP: call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2026/07/... #OctaviaButler #publication #blackwriters
Celebrating 13 Years of the Octavia E. Butler Literary Society! Happy Founder's Day! #OctaviaButler #earthseed #parable #wildseed www.oebsociety.org
Wild Seeds: A Tuesday Accountability Group is back for its third year! For the first 3 Tuesdays in June, from 1-4 PM ET, we invite content creators, educators, writers, and anyone seeking a silent, "body doubling," co-working environment to join us on Zoom: georgiasouthern.zoom.us/meeting/regi...
Thankful for Octavia Margaret Guy Butler's "sneak attack" on her daughter, Octavia E. Butler. May you cherish the mothers and mother figures who encourage you in a multitude of ways. Happy Mother's Day! #OctaviaButler #MothersDay #positiveobsession #earthseed
One year ago today, Kendra R. Parker's book Understanding Octavia E. Butler was released by University of South Carolina Press. Happy first book birthday to Kendra R. Parker! #OctaviaButler #earthseed
Today, Grand Central Publishing and the Octavia E. Butler Estate revealed the cover of Survivor (1978), which has been out of print for almost forty years. Learn more:
Butler's Survivor (1978) will be back in print in September. Check out the cover!
Today, Grand Central Publishing and the Octavia E.
oebsociety.substack.com
The recording for So Be It! See To It! A Conversation with Octavia E. Butler's Biographers is now available! The link is in our bio! #octaviabutler #positiveobsession #blackwriters #biography #earthseed
Today, February 24, 2026, marks 20 years since the passing of Octavia E. Butler. We honor her today. We honor her everyday. Learn about two events today honoring her today: oebsociety.substack.com/p/so-be-it-s... #OctaviaButler #OctaviaKnew #OctaviaTriedToTellUs
Do you like Butler's Wild Seed but have a young reader in your life who may not be ready for that? Have them check out the Wild Seed Witch trilogy by Marti Dumas, which is inspired by Butler's 1980 novel. #octaviabutler #wildseed #adaptation #wellreadblackgirl
Have you downloaded the free Acorn: A Rejuvenating Activity Kit? We released it for free 3 years ago. Check it out! #octaviabutler
Acorn: A Rejuvenating Activity Kit
Acorn: A Rejuvenating Activity Kit created by the Octavia E. Butler Literary Society. Inspired by Octavia E. Butler’s Parable of the Sower (1993) and Parable of the Talents (1998)
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Celebrating 10 Years of Biographical Inquiry! In 2016, Gerry Canavan’s biography simply titled Octavia E. Butler was published. The book ushered in a new era in Butler Studies! #OctaviaButler #BlackHistoryMonth #biography #blackwriters #blacksciencefiction #wellreadblackgirl
Celebrating 40+ Years of Butler scholarship! In 1986, Sandra Y. Govan’s article, “Octavia Butler Renovates the Historical Novel, was published in MELUS Journal. The article discusses Kindred (1979) and Wild Seed (1980). #OctaviaButler #BlackHistoryMonth #Kindred #WildSeed #blackwriters
After a BlueSky user reached out to us, we did some digging. It looks like Octavia E. Butler’s Survivor (1978) will be back in print in September of this year. Learn More: oebsociety.substack.com/p/survivor-b... #octaviabutler #survivor
Survivor Back in Print?
Butler's third novel, out of print for almost 50 years, seems to be coming back into print later this year
oebsociety.substack.com
The Octavia E. Butler Literary Society, with the support of the Department of English at Georgia Southern, is hosting "So Be It! See To It! A Conversation with Butler's Biographers." Free. Register for the Zoom link: georgiasouthern.zoom.us/meeting/regi... #OctaviaButler #BlackHistoryMonth
So Be It! See To It! Celebrating 50 Years of Patternmaster. In 1976, Octavia E. Butler's first novel, Patternmaster, was published. #OctaviaButler #BlackHistoryMonth #Patternmaster #blackwriters #blacksciencefiction #wellreadblackgirl
Want to present at the American Literature Association Conference on a panel sponsored by the OEB Literary Society? Submit your abstract by January 26, 2026, for consideration. All details can be found here:
Call for Papers: OEB Literary Society at ALA 2026
Octavia E.
open.substack.com
Thank you for rocking with the OEBLS this year! Counting down to 2026! Check out our 2025 recap: open.substack.com/pub/oebsocie... #OctaviaButler #GodIsChange #PositiveObsession #wildseed #parableofthesower
OEBLS 2025 Recap
A Year in Review for the Octavia E. Butler Literary Society
open.substack.com
Season's Greetings! May Octavia's words guide you this year: “Belief Initiates and guides action— Or it does nothing.” from Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler #OctaviaButler
The Octavia E. Butler Literary Society co-sponsored a panel at PAMLA 2025, for its 122nd Annual Conference held in in San Francisco November 20-23. The session, titled "Octavia E. Butler's Oeuvre," was organized by Jade Saffery and featured 3 panelists! #OctaviaButler #Earthseed #GodIsChange
We're thankful for everyone keeping Butler's spirit alive. Check out these 4 works, published this year, that are helping to do just that. #OctaviaButler #GodIsChange #BlackSciFi #blackwriters #blackwomenwriters #Earthseed
Call for Submissions! Abstracts due: October 5, 2025 Submission types: Scholarly essays, fiction, poetry, visual art No AI-generated content Publication: 2027 Details on flyer; scan the QR code for details or select this URL: docs.google.com/document/u/0... #Afrofuturism
‘Positive Obsession’ Is a Fresh Look at #OctaviaEButler -- A new biography by Susana M. Morris reveals the struggles, passions and triumphs that shaped the science fiction icon and her books. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/23/b....
‘Positive Obsession’ Is a Fresh Look at Octavia E. Butler
nytimes.com
All That You Touch, You Change: The Life and Legacy of Octavia E. Butler: ancillaryreviewofbooks.org/2025/07/08/a...
All That You Touch, You Change: The Life and Legacy of Octavia E. Butler
Helena Ramsaroop Octavia E. Butler passed away nearly twenty years ago, but her legacy lives on in every reader she touched with her words. She is often regarded as one of the most important writer…
ancillaryreviewofbooks.org
Happy Publication Day to Susana M. Morris! Her biography on Ms. Butler, Positive Obsession: The Life and Times of Octavia E. Butler, officially releases today! Congrats! #octaviabutler #parableofthesower
Happy 78th Birthday to Octavia E. Butler! Butler’s legacy is full speed ahead, thanks to so many groups, businesses, schools, scholars, artists, writers, and more. Whether you’re new to Butler or just getting started, there’s something for everyone—even our four legged friends! #octaviabutler
Join us in celebrating Butler's birthday month with our 2nd "Wild Seeds: A Tuesday Accountability Group." We invite content creators, educators, writers, and anyone seeking a focused work environment to join our free virtual working space on Zoom from 1-4 PM ET Tuesdays in June! #octaviabutler
