Join the DC Public Library and the National Women’s History Museum in reading Octavia Butler's Parable of the Sower, part of Black Feminist Book Club.
Published in 1993 and beginning in a near-apocalyptic California in 2024, Butler’s renowned novel follows Lauren Olamina’s fight for the survival of her loved ones while imagining a new future for humanity. For this special edition of Black Feminist Book Club, we will be reading Butler’s now-canonical text and visiting exhibitions nearby that feature artists, thinkers, and objects inspired by, and aligned with, Butler’s vision for alternate futures.
Schedule
Note: registrants may join for all, or part, of the program.
5:00 p.m. Pre-Book Club Visit: Musical Thinking at SAAM
Location: Smithsonian American Art Museum, 8th and G Street NW, 3rd Floor Galleries
As a warm-up to our conversation, join us for a special tour of the exhibition Musical Thinking: New Video Art and Sonic Strategies at the Smithsonian American Art Museum for Book Club registrants. Led by curator Saisha Grayson, the tour will examine artworks by Cauleen Smith, an artist explicitly inspired by Butler, who draws upon on music, poetry, Afrofuturism, science fiction, and tactics of experimental film to conjure what the artist has called “a cornucopia of future histories.” The group will continue to the MLK Library for our Book Club discussion at 6 p.m. No separate registration is required.
6:00 p.m. Book Club Discussion
Location: MLK Library, First Floor West (Digital Commons)
We will convene inside the exhibition We Who Believe in Freedom: Black Feminist DC, where leading Black feminist scholars and educators are featured imagining Black feminist futures. The exhibition is located in the MLK Library, First Floor (West), near the Digital Commons. The discussion of Parable of the Sower will run from 6:00-7:00 p.m
BLK FMMNNST LOANER LIBRARY: Parable of the Sower. 2019 Graphite and gouache on paper. © Cauleen Smith. Courtesy of Corbett vs Dempsey Gallery, Chicago, and Moran Morán, Los Angeles.
More about Black Feminist Book Club
Black Feminist Book Club is a traveling book club that brings together community members to read, discuss, and take action inspired by Black feminist texts. Book clubs will be hosted at different locations around DC, from branches of the DC Public Library to other community spaces. Participants will be able to explore the selected text together, take field trips to special exhibitions and community spaces, meet local organizations that continue the work of historical Black feminists, and more.
Black Feminist Book Club is free to attend, though registration is recommended to save a spot. Visit the National Women's History Museum website for further details and updates.
AGE GROUP: | Adults | 13 - 19 Years Old (Teens) |
EVENT TYPE: | Exhibit | Book Club | Banned Books Week |
