In Memoriam
The Octavia E. Butler Literary Society mourns the passing of our vice president, founding member, colleague, and friend, Conseula Francis. Conseula was an energetic and hospitable person whose work on Butler shaped her own life and the lives of those she touched. Without her, we would not have one of the most significant volumes of Butler scholarship, Conversations with Octavia E. Butler (2009). Conseula’s hard work gives us all the opportunity to read Butler’s thoughts on writing, history, race, class, and other important themes in her own words. Above all else, Conseula was a warm and generous person, someone who cared deeply about others and who was always willing to give of her time and of herself. She is remembered by her colleagues at the College of Charleston in this story from Monday, May 9, 2016.
Dr. Hampton received a B.A. in Economics and African-American Studies from Oberlin College; an M.A. in African-American Studies from Yale University; and a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from Duke University. He published articles in the English Journal, the CLAJ (College Language Association Journal), Children’s Literature in Education: An International Quarterly, Obsidian III, and Callaloo. His most recent courses were invested in the problematic of the black body and its portrayal in both literature and film as well as literature across cultures (African, British, Native American, Caribbean, and Asian). His book Changing Bodies in the Fiction of Octavia Butler: Slaves, Aliens, and Vampires (Lexington Books) was the first monograph of literary criticism invested in examining the complete body of fiction produced by Octavia Butler. Greg’s most recent monograph, Imagining Slaves and Robots in Literature, Film, and Popular Culture: Reinventing Yesterday’s Slave with Tomorrow’s Robot (Lexington Books) is an interdisciplinary work about the relationship between technology and human nature. And his co-edited collection, The Bloomsbury Handbook to Octavia E. Butler (2020), was approved for publication days before his passing.
We are so grateful to Greg for saying yes and lending his support and expertise to the founding of the Society. His leaves an indelible contribution to the literary scholarship on Octavia E. Butler.
We are so grateful to Greg for saying yes and lending his support and expertise to the founding of the Society. His leaves an indelible contribution to the literary scholarship on Octavia E. Butler.