The archives of Octavia E. Butler, a prominent African-American writer of science fiction who died at 58 in 2006, will be made available next year to researchers at the Huntington Library in San Marino, Calif., the library has announced. The 39 cartons and eight file-cabinet drawers include manuscripts, correspondence, school papers, notebooks, photographs and other materials. The library said that Ms. Butler, above, had bequeathed a collection that included typed drafts of ''Kindred,'' the most well known of her dozen novels, along with notes on cards offering her thoughts about her works: ''My writing can be a kind of therapy for me, and I'm sure some of their origins extend well back into my childhood.'' Ms. Butler had received two Hugo Awards from the World Science Fiction Society, two Nebula Awards from the Science Fiction Writers of America and the first so-called MacArthur genius grant given to a science-fiction writer. ''She was a towering intellect who took copious notes about everything, and she kept it all,'' said Sara S. Hodson, curator of literary manuscripts at the Huntington, in a statement. ''The collection is a feast of information.'' [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]
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