Panel: Octavia's Legacy

Authors explore Octavia Butler’s lasting influence on speculative fiction, imagination and the futures we dare to envision. Featuring Jewelle Gomez, Duane Horton and Eboni Dunbar in person, along with Andrea Hairston, virtually. 

Jewelle Gomez (Cabo Verdean/Wampanoag/Ioway; she/her) is a novelist,  poet, essayist, playwright and lesbian/feminist activist. Her ten books include five collections of poetry and the first Black Lesbian vampire novel, The Gilda Stories. In print for more than 30 years, the novel was recently optioned by Cheryl Dunye (“Lovecraft Country” “Watermelon Woman”) for a TV miniseries.  Her latest collection of poetry, Still Water, is from BLF Press. 

Duane Horton is a black queer fantasy writer who resides in the Bay Area. But he's from Cleveland, Ohio. He believes in writing his intersection of identity into his fantasy stories to widen the cannon of literature. And so that more folks who share his intersection of identity can see themselves represented on the page. Duane has recently released his first collection of stories titled No Hero Alone - now available on Amazon.

Eboni J. Dunbar (She/her) lives in Northern California with her wife.  She received her BA from Macalester College in English and her MFA in Creative Writing from Mills College. She is a VONA Alum, and the former managing editor for the Hugo Award-Winning FIYAH Literary Magazine. She is also the winner of the Lambda Literary 2023 Randall Kenan Prize for Black LGBTQ Fiction and the Ignyte Award for Best Novelette in 2024. Her novella, Stone and Steel, is out from Neon Hemlock.

Andrea Hairston is a novelist, playwright, and scholar. Aqueduct Press published: Will Do Magic For Small Change, a New York Times Editor’s pick and finalist for the Mythopoeic, Lambda and Otherwise Awards; Mindscape, winner of the Carl Brandon Award; and Lonely Stardust, a collection of essays and plays. Her work also includes Archangels of Funk, Master of Poisons and more.