"Prodigy is, at its essence, adaptability and persistent, positive obsession. Without persistence, what remains is an enthusiasm of the moment. Without adaptability, what remains may be channeled into destructive fanaticism. Without positive obsession, there is nothing at all."
- Octavia E. Butler, Parable of the Sower
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When global climate change and economic crises lead to social chaos in the early 2020s, California becomes full of dangers, from pervasive water shortage to masses of vagabonds who will do anything to live to see another day. Fifteen-year-old Lauren Olamina lives inside a gated community with her preacher father, family, and neighbors, sheltered from the surrounding anarchy. In a society where any vulnerability is a risk, she suffers from hyperempathy, a debilitating sensitivity to others’ emotions. Precocious and clear-eyed, Lauren must make her voice heard in order to protect her loved ones from the imminent disasters her small community stubbornly ignores. But what begins as a fight for survival soon leads to something much more: the birth of a new faith . . . and a startling vision of human destiny. Source: Grand Central Publishing |
Paperback copies of the book will be distributed to the college community starting in August 2023.
The library currently has Parable of the Sower available to check out in multiple formats:
Note: Some editions of the book are called Earthseed - the Earthseed series contains two novels: Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents. We are only reading the first book in the series, Parable of the Sower, but the library has copies of this and other Octavia E. Butler series available to check out or request from other libraries.
To attend virtually, please use the following Zoom link: https://ivcc-edu.zoom.us/j/8152240306
Register for the event at Illinois Extension: https://registration.extension.illinois.edu/start/help-save-our-pollinators
On November 1, 2023, Dr. Jennifer Timmers of IVCC's Agriculture department presented on the topic of climate change.
Octavia E. Butler was a renowned African American author who received a MacArthur “Genius” Grant and PEN West Lifetime Achievement Award for her body of work. Born in Pasadena in 1947, she was raised by her mother and her grandmother. She was the author of several award-winning novels including PARABLE OF THE SOWER (1993), which was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year, and PARABLE OF THE TALENTS (1995) winner of the Nebula Award for the best science fiction novel published that year. She was acclaimed for her lean prose, strong protagonists, and social observations in stories that range from the distant past to the far future.
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Photo: courtesy of”: The Octavia E. Butler Estate |
Though the MacArthur Grant made life easier in later years, she struggled for decades when her dystopian novels exploring themes of Black injustice, global warming, women’s rights and political disparity were, to say the least, not in commercial demand.
During these years of obscurity Butler, always an early riser, woke at 2 a.m. every day to write, and then went to work as a telemarketer, potato chip inspector, and dishwasher, among other things.
She passed away on February 24, 2006. At the time of her death, interest in her books was beginning to rise, and in recent years, sales of her books have increased enormously as the issues she addressed in her Afro-Futuristic, feminist novels and short fiction have only become more relevant.
Her work is now taught in over 200 colleges and universities nationwide. The #1 New York Times bestselling graphic novel adaptation of her book KINDRED, created by Damian Duffy and John Jennings, received the Eisner Award for best adaptation.
Jacobs Library Octavia E. Butler Holdings
Essay on Racism
NPR's Scott Simon asks award-winning science fiction writer Octavia Butler to imagine a world without racism.
The Interplay of Science and Science Fiction:
From Star Trek to The Day After Tomorrow, how do science fiction writers use science to shape their stories? And how are scientists influenced by science fiction?