Octavia E. Butler

American author

Also known as: Octavia Estelle Butler

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last Updated: Jan 21, 2025 • Article History

Quick Facts

In full:: Octavia Estelle Butler

Born:: June 22, 1947, Pasadena, California, U.S.

Died:: February 24, 2006, Seattle, Washington (aged 58)

Awards And Honors:: Hugo Award (1984)

Notable Works:: “Adulthood Rites”; “Bloodchild”; “Clay’s Ark”; “Fledgling”; “Imago”; “Kindred”; “Mind of My Mind”; “Patternmaster”; “Survivor”; “The Parable of the Sower”; “The Parable of the Talents”; “Wild Seed”

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News •

Beloved Sci-Fi Author Octavia Butler’s Gravesite Survived Los Angeles Fire • Jan. 20, 2025, 11:09 AM ET (Gizmodo)

For Black families in Altadena, history and community burned alongside homes • Jan. 19, 2025, 2:03 AM ET (The Guardian)

Wildfires latest: An additional 84,000 people could be ordered to evacuate, officials warn • Jan. 14, 2025, 9:02 PM ET (AP)

Octavia Butler imagined LA ravaged by fires. Her Altadena cemetery survived • Jan. 14, 2025, 6:06 PM ET (AP)

Octavia E. Butler (born June 22, 1947, Pasadena, California, U.S.—died February 24, 2006, Seattle, Washington) was an African American author chiefly noted for her science fiction novels about future societies and superhuman powers. They are noteworthy for their unique synthesis of science fiction, mysticism, mythology, and African American spiritualism. Butler was educated at Pasadena City College (A.A., 1968), California State University, and the University of California at Los Angeles. Encouraged by Harlan Ellison, she began her writing career in 1970. The first of her novels, Patternmaster (1976), was the beginning of her five-volume Patternist series about an elite group of ...(100 of 265 words)

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