I was collecting some…

I was collecting some materials for my students about Octavia Butler's Dawn, which they finished reading for today. (They loved it.) Thought some of you might be interested:

1) Here's one short piece (by a good SF writer herself, Joan Slonczewski) that has some nice insights into the series (mild spoilers for the later books): http://biology.kenyon.edu/slonc/books/butler1.html

2) Here's another, briefer piece: http://www.tor.com/blogs/2009/09/octavia-butler-re-read-dawn

3) Here's a great 2-minute video by Nora Jemisin (one of the foremost contemporary black spec fix writers) on the importance of Dawn and Butler: http://www.sfsignal.com/archives/2012/11/video-n-k-jemisin-on-the-significance-of-octavia-e-butlers-dawn/

4) Here's a brief framing of the book in terms of agency / autonomy: http://mchrist9.onmason.com/2011/10/26/give-and-take-in-octavia-butlers-dawn/

5) And here's a brief piece considering Lilith's monstrosity: http://www.siueblackstudies.com/2012/10/the-dawn-of-octavia-butlers-monstrosity.html

Optionally, if you're interested in taking a look at something more dense, here's an academic article on the series, considering the value of it as an origin story (which many feminist theorists find problematic):

http://www.depauw.edu/sfs/backissues/65/peppers65art.htm

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