Sci-Fi star Nalo Hopkinson to discuss Octavia Butler’s legacy in Redlands

REDLANDS, Calif. — Award-winning science fiction author Nalo Hopkinson will explore the literary legacy of Octavia E. Butler and the role of Black women authors in shaping the future during a free public lecture at the University of Redlands on Feb. 19.

The event, scheduled for 6 p.m. at the Orton Center, will also be livestreamed on the university’s Parable Project webpage.

Hopkinson, whose novels blend folklore, Caribbean cultural traditions, and speculative fiction, has received numerous literary honors. Her debut novel, Brown Girl in the Ring, was shortlisted for both the James Tiptree Jr. and Philip K. Dick awards in 1998. She received the Octavia E. Butler Legacy Award in 2018, and in 2021, she became the youngest recipient of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association’s Grand Master award, joining the ranks of Robert Heinlein, Ursula K. Le Guin, and Samuel R. Delany.

John Jennings, the artist behind the graphic novel adaptations of Butler’s Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents, will deliver introductory remarks.

The lecture is part of the university’s Parable Project, which invites students and the wider Redlands community to examine Butler’s 1993 novel Parable of the Sower. Set in Southern California in 2024, the dystopian novel envisions a future marked by environmental collapse and political upheaval, yet ultimately finds hope in community resilience.

In addition to Hopkinson’s talk, the university is hosting related events, including a plant walk at the Sustainable University of Redlands Farm on March 27, which will highlight the vegetation Butler’s protagonist might have relied on in her survival journey. Details on an upcoming event in the university’s Meditation Room will be announced soon.

The Parable Project is supported by a Spotlight on the Humanities grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, along with funding from the University of Redlands.

For more information, visit the Parable Project webpage or follow @parableproject24 on Instagram.