Octavia Butler Scholarship fundraiser

Anyone who has known me for a while knows my long-standing obsession with the author Octavia Butler. Before I knew a thing about her, I knew she could write about that experience of being different far more knowingly than anyone else I'd encountered. I still have one of the early releases of Dawn that had a white Lilith on the cover, oh, the irony. For many years I combed the bookstores regularly, hoping for  a new release of hers, and I still grieve over her death in 2006, a powerful voice silenced. Jodah is named from one of her books, and I have a regular habit of going back to re-read her series every few years.

So I'm very happy to know I'm not alone in my obsession, and that her name is still associated with amazing things.

There is a scholarship project for the Clarion and Clarion's West Writers' workshops in her name, and there is currently a fundraiser. If you donate, your reward is a collection of stories from previous scholarship recipients. There are so many familiar names involved with the project, it's a little ovewhelming for me. The cover art is by Laurie Toby Edison, who among other projects, contributes to the blog "Body Impolitic."  (Link may be NSFW for some workplaces - her photography work includes some amazing nudes). And Nalo Hopkinson has written the introduction. I encountered Nalo several years ago on a discussion forum completely unrelated to science fiction, and she endured my little fan-girl melt-down with good humor when I figured out who she was (I'd read several of her stories in various anthologies). She also introduced me to several more authors - authors who aren't as widely known but who's work was amazing and really spoke to me, so I am forever grateful.

I haven't yet read the collection, but it's next on the list. And it can't hurt to get the word out.