Category: octavia butler

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LES Center Videos: III

In early December, I shared two posts with some of the weekly videos that I have been creating for the LES Center. Since then, I have created more videos, and I wanted to take a moment to share some of them with you today. These videos focus on talks she had with campers at Laurel Falls about racism, the ways that Smith connected her … Read More LES Center Videos: III

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Empathy in John Ira Jennings and Damian Duffy’s “Parable of the Sower”

During the camp season at Laurel Falls, Lillian Smith would write letters home to the parents of campers. In the mid-summer 1946 Laurel Leaf, she wrote to parents about the adventures of Buss Eye, the plays that the girls wrote, and other camp activities. Near the end of the letter, she writes about the conversations that the campers had after hearing about the lynching … Read More Empathy in John Ira Jennings and Damian Duffy’s “Parable of the Sower”

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Intimacy and Hope in Duffy and Jennings’ Adaptation of Butler’s “Kindred”

The last time I read Damian Duffy and John Ira Jennings’ graphic novel adaptation of Octavia Butler’s Kindred (1979), I zeroed in on the ways that Jennings represents faces and emotion in the text, specifically through Dana, Sarah, and Rufus. In this read through, I noticed the multiple panels with hands, either embracing, playing, or in confrontation. Today, I want to take a moment … Read More Intimacy and Hope in Duffy and Jennings’ Adaptation of Butler’s “Kindred”

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The Past in Kirsten Imani Kasai’s “The House of Erzulie”

Note: You can win a copy of Kasai’s The House of Erzulie. Just tweet or retweet this post (make sure to tag me so I know you Tweeted it  @silaslapham). The winner will be chosen randomly at noon Saturday January 13.   Recently, I had the chance to read Kirsten Imani Kasai‘s The House of Erzulie (Feburary 2018 Shade Mountain Press), a novel that, on the … Read More The Past in Kirsten Imani Kasai’s “The House of Erzulie”

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“African American Literature and the American South” Syllabus

Occasionally, I post syllabi ideas here on the blog. Today, I want to share a syllabus I have been thinking about recently entitled “African American Literature and the American South.” The South, as a geographic and imaginary space, looms large in the works of not just African American authors but in writers of all ethnic backgrounds from the United States. Maryemma Graham discusses the … Read More “African American Literature and the American South” Syllabus