Octavia Butler {1947-2006} was born in Pasadena, California, and was interested in telling stories since she was a child. She went on to write 15 novels, plus short stories and essays. She was awarded the MacArthur Fellowship in 1995 as the first science fiction writer. Butler won numerous awards, from the Hugo Award for Best Novelette (Bloodchild 1995) to the Nebula Award for the Best Novel (Parable of the Talents 1998). Her work has been considered Afrofuturism, but the characters are often multi-ethnic and multi-species. Her black and frequently women protagonists demonstrate strength and potential for radical change in the battle for survival.
- Single Greeting Card
- Blank inside
- Measures 4.25”x5.5” folded
- Letterpress printed on 100% cotton paper
- Envelope included
Handcrafted in Lafayette, Louisiana
* Woman Owned Business
Kathryn Hunter began Blackbird Letterpress in 2003 in Lafayette, Louisiana, after she bought a Chandler & Price 8x12 letterpress. Since she couldn't move the 1100lb press into her apartment, her friends, Pudd & Leigh Anne, came to the rescue by offering their back room as a printshop. The type came from a printer outside of Chicago. Pudd & Kathryn flew up to to the Windy city and loaded a couple tons of type and cabinets and other goodies out of a basement into a moving truck, and drove it back to Bayou Country. A collection of vintage printers' cuts came from a long time printer in New Iberia, Louisiana. The printshop grew up little by little in that back room from 2003-2007 until it was bursting the seams. Blackbird then worked out of a mural-clad building in Baton Rouge from 2007-2016, which they shared with a cool metalworking business and two frisky guard dogs. The printshop moved in Fall of 2016 and has expanded in space and equipment. We use the original C&P 8x12, along with a Vandercook SP15, C&P 10x15, and 2 Heidelberg Windmills and have 2 new frisky guard dogs. Kathryn was trained as a printmaker and has a Bachelor of Fine Arts in printmaking from Montana State University, Bozeman, and a Master of Fine Arts in printmaking from Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge. She continues to make fine art when she's not busy keeping up with Blackbird, designing, printing, and performing other operational tasks.
