In “Parable of the Sower,” Octavia E. Butler writes about a brutal, mid-2020s Southern California ravaged by wildfire, earthquakes and an addictive pharmaceutical that fuels a destructive drug epidemic.
The author, who was born in Pasadena and grew up in Altadena (spending time in neighborhoods later burned by the Eaton fire), published the novel in 1993. In its sequel, 1998’s “Parable of the Talents,” a rabble-rousing presidential candidate promises to “make America great again.”
On Wednesday evening’s Founders’ Day 2025 event at The Huntington, Butler’s work was celebrated, explored and discussed by an engaging panel of experts – Octavia’s Bookshelf owner Nikki High; professor of theology, culture and theopoetics Tamisha A. Tyler; executive director of the Center for Restorative Justice John Williams; and The Huntington’s moderator Monique L. Thomas – in front of a sold-out crowd at the institution where Butler’s papers are held.
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But the seemingly prophetic nature of the novels – which has helped fuel an already growing interest in Butler’s work – wasn’t the focus of the evening. As others have noted, Butler wasn’t so much prophesying the future as looking hard at the then-present (and recent past, including Ronald Reagan’s 1980 slogan, “Let’s make America great again”).
Or as Butler herself wrote in an Essence magazine essay, “A Few Rules for Predicting the Future” (beautifully republished last year by Chronicle Books): “I didn’t make up the problems,” she wrote. “All I did was look around at the problems we’re neglecting now and give them about 30 years to grow into full-fledged disasters.”
Butler is even more explicit on the topic a little later in the piece: “Of course, writing novels about the future doesn’t give me any special ability to foretell the future. But it does encourage me to use our past and present behaviors as guides to the kind of world we seem to be creating … To study history is to study humanity. And to try to foretell the future without studying history is like trying to learn to read without bothering to learn the alphabet.”
So the focus of the evening was on coming together, as the event made clear in its title, “Sowing Community: Living with Octavia E. Butler’s ‘Parables.’” That was also true in the comments of its two surprise guests: director Garrett Bradley, who is adapting “Parable of the Sower” for the screen, and actor, author and supporter of the neighborhood, LeVar Burton, who composed a foreword to a new edition of “Parable of the Sower.”
“Octavia’s words have inspired, uplifted, reminded, guided us for decades. One of the things that is really clear and apparent in ‘Parable’ is the need, for survival’s sake, to create community,” said Burton, who was a welcome presence at the Altadena library on Saturday.
“This community – Pasadena, Altadena, the community that’s been created this evening in this room – these are the seeds of our survival. Relish in the opportunity to be in community with one another, it is indeed the way forward.”
During a wide-ranging conversation about Butler’s work, High was asked about worldbuilding, and offered a response that, to assembled lovers of both books and people, was thoughtful and moving.
“We are worldbuilding every day. So the way you vote or not, the way you interact with marginalized people, the way you prioritize building community, those are all choices. You’re building the world that you’re in.
“What literature does, and sci-fi specifically, is it allows the writer, in my opinion, to create a world and create alternatives in this world, so that you can actually see what equity might look like,” she said.
“Hopefully, as you’re metabolizing this new world that you’re seeing or that you’re reading about in a book, an Octavia Butler book, you will start to ask yourself some questions about your role in worldbuilding and to see every single decision you make as contributing to the world that you’re living in,” she said.
“Maybe if we think about it that way, we can change it.”
It was an evening of intelligent conversation and often joyous laughter. Then, instead of a post-talk Q&A, there was a reception where attendees were encouraged to strike up a conversation with a person they didn’t know, sample food from local restaurants like Perry’s Joint and pick up a packet of poppy seeds that had been prepared by Altadena Seed Library’s Nina Raj.
And if you haven’t yet read Butler’s work, it’s not too late to get started, as High, who set up a pop-up bookstore for the event, made clear during the discussion.
“I do the work that I do today, obviously, because I love reading,” she said, adding that she’s sometimes surprised to meet people who’ ve never read Butler’s work.
“I’m like, you know what? I can help you with that,” she said with a laugh.