OEB Panels at ALA proof that Octavia's influence is as strong as ever

Clarence W. Tweedy, Matthew Mullins, Bryan Conn, Deanna Gross Scherger and Greg Hampton. Not pictured is Kristen Lillvis.

by Tarshia L. Stanley


Happy Birthday!
The OEB Literary Society is a year old. Like most toddlers we experienced moments of rapid growth and incidences of bruised knees as we sought a way forward. At our initial meeting at the American Literature Association conference in Boston 2013, we put together a slate of officers and two members. We've now grown to more than 50 members and were able to sponsor two very excellent panels at ALA 2014 in Washington, DC! Both panels were well attended and provoked deep and interesting conversation.


Bryan Conn of the University of North Texas began the first panel with "'It’s your body': Kindred’s Black Liberalism and the Logic of Contract" which caused a lively debate surrounding the in/ability of an enslaved person to participate in body contracts. Kristen Lillvis from Marshall University added another level of insight reading fictive musical performances as afrofuturist texts with a paper entitled: "Afrofuturist Tempo-rality in the Work of Erykah Badu, Janelle Monáe, and Gayl Jones." Howard University professor and officer in the OEB society, Greg Hampton, added fruit to the African Diaspora scholar's apple carts with his paper, "Reading Aimé Césaire with Octavia Butler: A Tempest and Discourse on Colonialism as Science Fiction Narratives of Aliens Invasion."
The second panel sponsored by the society began with a reading of Earthseed and Black Liberation Theology. Clarence W. Tweedy from the University of Mary Washington gave us much to think about in his paper, "In the Name of Change: Prophecy and Redemption in the Fiction of Octavia Butler." "Backward-Looking Futures: Horizons of Change in Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower," was an innovative read of circuitous time travel from Matthew Mullins of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. The panel was rounded out by thoughts from Saddleback College's Deanna Gross Scherger and her reading of feminist angst around issues of  birth and body control in her paper, "The Gene Trade: Octavia Butler's Xenogenesis series and the New Eugenics." All in all it was a very nice birthday party!


The society is proud of the intellectual scholarship and diversity we were able to offer at ALA 2014. Among our goals for our terrific twos are to increase membership, to produce a newsletter, and to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the publication of Butler's Fledgling. We will sponsor two more panels in 2015 and I personally hope to see significant strides made toward completing the MLA teaching series volume I have proposed: Approaches to Teaching the Works of Octavia E. Butler. Please consider filling out the survey and submitting a proposal for the volume by July 1. All questions regarding the volume should be sent via email to: [email protected]. Questions about the society are fielded at [email protected].


Again, Happy Birthday to the Octavia E. Butler Literary Society and Happy Summer to all of you!


Tarshia