![]() ![]() ![]() With the development of the Black Power Movement in the 19s as well as the national discussions about race and hierarchy at the time, Butler began writing more diverse characters and using her stories to critique existing power structures in gender, class, and ethnicity from her viewpoint of a black woman. ![]() ![]() Her stories during this period were written in the mode of prominent science fiction at the time, with classic white male characters and simple premises. During her college years, Butler continued to write prolifically but saw little success, working a variety of side jobs to keep herself afloat while maintaining a rigorous writing schedule. She started writing her own stories and convinced her mother to buy her a typewriter at the age of 10. To compensate, Butler spent much of her free time in a local public library reading novels and magazines, and it was during this time that she fell in love with writing and storytelling. As a child, Butler suffered from dyslexia and a crippling level of social anxiety, making her childhood both lonely and fraught with teasing. Her mother was a housemaid and her father a shoeshine man, though he died when she was 7. Octavia Butler was the only child in a modest African-American family. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |