Octavia Butler imagined LA ravaged by fires. Her Altadena cemetery survived

Science Fiction writer Octavia Butler poses for a photograph near some of her novels at University Book Store in Seattle, Wash., on Feb. 4, 2004. (Joshua Trujillo/seattlepi.com via AP, File)

By Chris Pizzello, Hillel Italie

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Decades ago, the writer Octavia Butler had imagined a Los Angeles ravaged by fires.

The Altadena cemetery where the science fiction and Afrofuturism author is buried did catch fire last week but suffered “minimal damage,” according to a statement on the cemetery’s website.

The grave of Butler, who died in 2006 at 58, is marked by a footstone etched with a quote from “Parable of the Sower,” among her most famous novels.

Since the fires began last week, the novel and other Butler works have been cited for anticipating a world — and, particularly, a Los Angeles — wracked by climate change, racism and economic disparity. “Parable of the Sower” was written in 1993 and set in a post-apocalyptic LA.

“We had a fire today,” reads a Feb. 1, 2025, diary entry in the book, referring to a small blaze that presages the destructive fires to come in the novel.

The post Octavia Butler imagined LA ravaged by fires. Her Altadena cemetery survived appeared first on The Philadelphia Sunday Sun.

Source

Comments

No comments yet. Why don’t you start the discussion?

Bir yanıt yazın

E-posta adresiniz yayınlanmayacak. Gerekli alanlar * ile işaretlenmişlerdir