Editing Octavia E. Butler (section)

== Influence ==
In interviews with Charles Rowell and [[Randall Kenan]], Butler credited the struggles of her working-class mother as an important influence on her writing.<ref name="Rowell" /><ref name="Kenan">{{cite journal |author=Kenan Randall |title=An Interview with Octavia E. Butler|journal=Callaloo|volume= 14|number=2 |date=1991|pages= 495–504|doi=10.2307/2931654|jstor=2931654}}</ref> Because Butler's mother received little formal education herself, she made sure that young Butler was given the opportunity to learn by bringing her reading materials that her white employers threw away, from magazines to advanced books.<ref name="PosObs" /> She also encouraged Butler to write. She bought her daughter her first typewriter when she was 10 years old, and, seeing her hard at work on a story casually remarked that maybe one day she could become a writer, causing Butler to realize that it was possible to make a living as an author.<ref name="Gant" /> A decade later, Mrs. Butler would pay more than a month's rent to have an agent review her daughter's work.<ref name="PosObs" /> She also provided Butler with the money she had been saving for dental work to pay for Butler's scholarship so she could attend the Clarion Science Fiction Writers Workshop, where Butler sold her first two stories.<ref name="Holden" />

A second person to play an influential role in Butler's work was the American writer [[Harlan Ellison]]. As a teacher at the Open Door Workshop of the [[Screen Writers Guild]] of America, he gave Butler her first honest and constructive criticism on her writing after years of lukewarm responses from composition teachers and baffling rejections from publishers.<ref name="Belle" /> Impressed by her work, Ellison suggested she attend the Clarion Science Fiction Writers Workshop and even contributed $100 towards her application fee. As the years passed, Ellison's mentorship became a close friendship.<ref name="Holden" />

Butler herself has been highly influential in legacy of science fiction, particularly for people of color. In 2015, writers [[adrienne maree brown]] and [[Walidah Imarisha]] co-edited ''Octavia's Brood: Science Fiction Stories from Social Justice Movements'' ([[AK Press]]), a collection of 20 short stories and essays about [[social justice]], inspired by Butler.<ref>{{Cite web|title=a book review by Venetria K. Patton: Octavia's Brood: Science Fiction Stories from Social Justice Movements|url=https://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/book-review/octavias|access-date=2020-06-24|website=www.nyjournalofbooks.com}}</ref>  In 2020, brown and Toshi Reagon, creator of an opera adaptation of ''Parable of the Sower'', began collaborating on a podcast called ''Octavia's Parables''.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Liptak|first=Andrew|date=2020-06-22|title=A New Podcast Will Take a Deep Dive Into Octavia Butler's Parable Novels|url=https://www.tor.com/2020/06/22/octavia-butler-parable-sower-talents-podcast-adrienne-maree-brown-toshi-reagon-listen/|access-date=2020-06-24|website=Tor.com|language=en-US}}</ref>