IMMA Reading Group: Octavia Butler: Xenogenesis Trilogy 

To register your place please refer to the ‘Registration Details’ section further down this page.

Led by Dr John Wilkins, this guided reading group will meet once a month to discuss the three books of Octavia Butler’s Xenogenesis Trilogy: Dawn, Adulthood Rites, and Imago. Butler’s Xenogenesis Trilogy speculates on the nature of time travel might and the question of human nature’s connection to the essentialism of human genetics. These questions allow explorations of concepts such as the trauma of enslavement and the fight for freedom.

This reading group is taking place in the context of IMMA’s current exhibition The Otolith Group: Xenogenesis which is named after Octavia Butler’s title for her science fiction novels the Xenogenesis Trilogy.  The Otolith Group’s pioneering artworks which include post-cinematic essayist films, videos and multiple screen installations address contemporary social and planetary issues, the disruptions of neo/colonialism, the way in which humans have impacted the earth, and the influence of new technology on consciousness. The exhibition is a scaffolding that allows audiences to navigate modes of conceptualising methodologies and collaborations to question the essential nature of race, gender, and national identity. To establish intergenerational continuities of the black avant-garde, the Otolith Group draws on the science fiction writings of Octavia Butler where her work is an informing presence that precedes and postdates the work.

The Reading Group will be held on the 13 October, 17 November and 8 December.  The novels will be presented in chronological order over these dates and Butler’s reading will be underpinned by additional readings from black cultural and literary theorists such as Henry Louis Gates, Jr.; Ta-Nehisi Coates; and belle hooks.

This reading group is part of the Department of Xenogenesis (DXG) at IMMA, a time space enacted by the Otolith Group for convening public online and offline discussions, performance, screenings and exhibitions with artists, filmmakers, theorists and musicians. The DXG builds upon the exhibition and has developed throughout the tour.

This reading group is open to anyone with an interest in the work of Octavia Butler and it will be of particular interest to artists, curators, cultural and political theorists, art critics and students. Each session will focus on a text from the Xenogenesis Trilogy.

Excerpts of readings will be circulated in PDF format in advance of the session. Purchasing texts is not essential to participation but information can be provided on where participants can acquire texts and publications locally if you wish to do so.

For further information or to register contact Lisa Moran, Curator: Engagement and Learning via [email protected].