The untimely death of Octavia Butler, groundbreaking science fiction author and recipient of a MacArthur Foundation "genius" award—along with Hugo and Nebula awards from the science ficiton faithful—prompted a wave of tributes, many of them from unexpected quarters.
There's a surprisingly good assessment of Butler's work over at Slate. I say "surprisingly" because Slate is one of the most reliably clueless operations around when it comes to pop culture, particularly music. (The absence of David Edelstein means this cluelessness will quickly broaden to include movies.) But Tyler Cowen, the author of the Butler article, is alert to the qualities that made Butler a standout writer in science fiction or in any genre.
This past week I posted a tribute to Butler that got plenty of responses.
With that in mind, admirers of Butler's superb work should check out this WBAI interview with Butler available through the station's archives. Apparently their early morning science fiction show, Hour of the Wolf, paid tribute to Butler over the weekend.
From New Jersey blogger and poet Nordette Adams comes this link to a four-part audio adaptation of Butler's most famous novel, Kindred, performed by the Seeing Ear Theatre.
Article comments
1 - Ms. Berry
I couldn't get the links to work to the other sites (besides Slate) to work but I can hunt them down. Great tribute to a great writer. Kindred is an all time favorite.