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"I write about people who do extraordinary things. It just turned out that it was called science fiction." - Octavia E. Butler

Octavia E. Butler's work broke innumerable barriers and helped open the field of science fiction to writers and readers it had never had before. As the first Black writer to win the coveted Nebula and Hugo Awards, her courage and vision left a peerless legacy for fans not just of science fiction, but of American literature. In this collection of 10 interviews, 3 of them never published, Butler speaks with candor and openness about her work, her imaginative mission, and the barriers she faced as a Black woman working in a genre dominated by white men. The book features an original introduction by science fiction legend Samuel R. Delany, in which he discusses his personal relation with Butler, providing unparalleled insight into her work and life.

Table of Contents:

• Introduction - (2023) - essay by Samuel R. Delany
• Thrust Interview - (1979) - interview by Jeffrey M. Elliot
• Equality Opportunity Forum Interview - (1980) - interview by Rosalie G. Harrison
• Callaloo Interview - (1991) - interview by Randall Kenan
• "There Isn't Anything I Can't Do in Science Fiction" - (1993) - interview by Terry Gross
• "We Keep Playing the Same Record" - (1996) - interview by Stephen W. Potts
• Possible Futures - (1999) - interview by Cecilia Tan
• Watching the Story Happen - (2002) - interview by Darrell Schweitzer
• "I've Always Been an Outsider" - (2004) - interview by Joshunda Sanders
• Interviewing the Oracle - (2006) - interview by Kazembe Balagun
• The Last Interview - (2006) - interview by Jen Chau Fontán

An electric collection of interviews--including the first and the last--with one of the 20th century's most prolific, influential, and dazzlingly original writers of science fiction

Long before Ridley Scott transformed Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? into Blade Runner, Philip K. Dick was banging away at his typewriter in relative obscurity, ostracized by the literary establishment. Today he is widely considered one of the most influential writers of the 20th century. These interviews reveal a man plagued by bouts of manic paranoia and failed suicide attempts; a career fuelled by alcohol, amphetamines, and mystical inspiration; and, above all, a magnificent and generous imagination at work.