In January 2022, BxNU begins a collaboration with The Otolith Group, whose work has long been informed by the radical political futurism of Octavia Butler. We have chosen to read the first of Butler’s Xenogenesis trilogy as part of our participation in the Otolith Group’s Department of Xenogenesis, an ongoing pedagogical platform linked to their current touring exhibition. 

Dawn, written in 1987, is the first book in the Xenogenesis trilogy and opens up a world in which Lilith Iyapo finds herself in a planetary landscape occupied by hyper-sentient beings following the human-initiated apocalyptic ruination of Earth.

Unlike previous Prefigurative Reading Groups, participants will read the book in sections independently then discuss Butler’s political-futurist vision in relation to her non-fiction writing and commentaries on her work.

There will be six sessions that run on Thursdays from 17.30-19.00 on January 13, 20 & 27 and February 3, 10 & 17 2022.

Email alan.lynn@northumbria.ac.uk for Teams invite and text details.

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