About the Butler Scholarship
The Octavia E. Butler Memorial Scholarship enables writers of color to attend one of the Clarion writing workshops, where Octavia got her start. It furthers Octavia’s legacy by providing the same experience/opportunity that Octavia had to future generations of new writers of color. In addition to her stint as a student at the original Clarion Writers Workshop in Pennsylvania in 1970, Octavia taught several times for Clarion West in Seattle, Washington, and Clarion in East Lansing, Michigan, giving generously of her time to a cause she believed in.
The first Octavia E. Butler Memorial Scholarships were awarded in the summer of 2007, and they have been awarded annually each subsequent year at the conclusion of the Clarion and Clarion West Workshops. As of the summer of 2018, 21 Butler Scholarships have been awarded.
In order to become a Butler Scholar you should first apply to one or both of the Clarion Workshops, noting on your application(s) that you wish to be considered. Applications are accepted from December of the year preceding the workshops till March of the workshop year. If you are accepted as a workshop student, your application materials will be forwarded to the scholarship’s selection committee. To learn more about these workshops, visit the Clarion website and the Clarion West website.
Our goal for a fully endowed scholarship fund is $100,000. We welcome your tax deductible gift of any amount to this fund. Please use the button to the right of the page to donate via PayPal or a major credit card. If you’d prefer to make your donation in the form of a check or money order, please make it payable to “The Carl Brandon Society” and note that it is for “The Octavia E. Butler Memorial Scholarship Fund.” Then mail your donation to:
The Octavia E. Butler Memorial Scholarship Fund
c/o The Carl Brandon Society
P.O. Box 23336
Seattle, WA 98102
Octavia E. Butler
Octavia E. Butler (1947 – 2006) was a brilliant African American writer who broke barriers with her courageous and profoundly truthful books and stories. Winner of many awards including a MacArthur Fellowship, and speculative fiction’s highest honors, the Hugo and the Nebula, Octavia was greatly loved during her lifetime and will be greatly missed.
The Fund Administration
The Fund is being administered by the Carl Brandon Society because its mission is consistent with one of the Society’s primary goals: increasing the representation of people of color in the fantastical genres such as science fiction, fantasy and horror. In addition, Octavia was an early member of the Carl Brandon Society. We are a nonprofit organization, and donations made to the fund will be tax deductible. To learn more about the Carl Brandon Society, please read our Mission Statement and visit our site’s other pages.
Questions about the scholarship fund can be sent to:
oebscholarship[at]carlbrandon.org