For Immediate Release
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New York, NY — March 21, 2006 — Warner Books, Seven Stories Press, Beacon Press, The Carl Brandon Society, Writers House, and the Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame announced today the creation of The Octavia E. Butler Memorial Scholarship Fund in honor of the internationally acclaimed fiction writer, who passed away last month.
The Octavia E. Butler Memorial Scholarship Fund will enable writers of color to attend one of the Clarion writing workshops where Ms. Butler got her start. It has been established to honor and affirm her legacy by providing the same opportunity and experience Ms. Butler had to future generations of emerging writers of color. In addition to her stint as a student at the original Clarion Writers Workshop in Pennsylvania in 1970, Ms. Butler taught several sessions for Clarion West in Seattle, Washington, and Clarion in East Lansing, Michigan, giving generously of her time to a cause she believed in.
On hearing about the scholarship, Walter Mosley commented, "Octavia Butler has been a beacon for thousands of us. She carved out a place in the darkness and made a berth where there was none. This award will continue her legacy making sure that others will find their way to harbor."
The Octavia E. Butler Memorial Scholarship Fund will be administered by The Carl Brandon Society. The first scholarship will be awarded in 2007. Please send your tax deductible contributions made payable to "The Carl Brandon Society" and note that it is for "The Octavia E. Butler Memorial Scholarship Fund."
"Octavia's death only a few months after her novel's publication was an unexpected blow, forcing us to weep about what we had lost, the unwritten dreams that might have flowed from this fine writer's pen....Octavia left us with Fledgling, one last piece of her heart and soul."
— Tananarive Due
American Book Award recipient
Author of Joplin's Ghost
"She was sweet, and kind, and generous, and brilliant. And now she is gone. Travel well, my friend. Rest deeply."
Octavia E. Butler (1947-2006) was the first black woman to come to international prominence as a science fiction writer. Incorporating powerful, spare language and rich, well-developed characters, her work tackled race, gender, religion, poverty, power, politics, and science in a way that touched readers of all backgrounds. Butler was a towering figure in life and in her art and the world noticed. A critical force, she received numerous awards, including a MacArthur "genius" grant, both the Hugo and Nebula awards, the Langston Hughes Medal, and a PEN Lifetime Achievement award.
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