The phrase, which gained momentum in 2020, has resurfaced, in part because it can seem like Octavia Butler was more than a fiction writer. Credit... Ainslee Alem Robson This article is also a weekly newsletter. Sign up for Race/Related here. In the wake of the devastating fires in Los Angeles, many people are referencing the work of the science fiction writer Octavia Butler. Butler, who grew up in Pasadena, was the daughter of a housekeeper and a father who was a shoeshiner.