Book Discussion – Kindred by Octavia Butler

Monday, September 19th from 7:00 – 8:00 p.m. Session #1
Monday, October, 17th from 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. Session #2 

The Real Team is sponsoring a book discussion of Kindred, written by Octavia E. Butler. The book discussion will be held via ZOOM and facilitated by UCE member Jean Butzen. Participants will meet twice and prior to the first session will have access to online materials available through a Google docs folder which contains background information for the book, author, and the topic of slavery. Here are the meeting dates for the book group: 

• Monday, September 19th: 7:00 – 8:00 p.m. on Zoom, Session #1: Introductions to the participants, the author, the book, and to several Google doc materials being made available to participants for the book and the topic. Then we will break for a few weeks for participants to read the book, however, feel free to start reading the book right away. Some people need to read Ms. Butler’s books a little more slowly, to absorb the material. 
• Monday, October 17th: 7:00 – 9:00 p.m., Session #2: Inter-active discussion of the book Kindred, facilitated by Jean Butzen. 

Octavia Estelle Butler was an American science fiction writer that challenged White hegemony. She was also one of the best-known science fiction writers among the few African-American women in the field. She won both Hugo and Nebula awards. In 1995, she became the first science fiction writer to receive the MacArthur Foundation “Genius” Grant. 

Her 1979 novel Kindred tells the story of Edana “Dana” Franklin, a black woman in 1976 whose connection to a young white boy named Rufus Weylin allows her to time travel to 1800s Maryland. As she jumps between 1976 and the 1800s, she learns how she and Rufus are connected, and she must survive as an enslaved person in the antebellum South to fit in. 

The novel has been praised for its raw and compelling depiction of slavery, bringing it to the forefront to remind us to never forget the sins of our past. Butler’s use of time travel highlights the importance of keeping the past present because the trauma left behind continues to shape our daily lives. 

To register for the Kindred Book Discussion, go here.