Octavia E. Butler (1947-2006) was one of the foremost science fiction writers of her generation, the winner of multiple Hugo and Nebula awards. In 1995 she became the first science fiction writer to receive a MacArthur Fellowship.

Gerry Canavan is an associate professor of English at Marquette University. An editor at Extrapolation and Science Fiction Film and Television, he has co-edited The Cambridge Companion to American Science Fiction (2015) and The Cambridge History of Science Fiction (2019). His is the author of Octavia E. Butler in the Modern Masters of Science Fiction series.

Nisi Shawl is a science fiction writer, editor, and journalist whose debut novel Everfair was a 2016 Nebula finalist. A friend of Octavia Butler, Shawl edited Bloodchildren: Stories by the Octavia E. Butler Scholars (2013) and co-edited Strange Matings: Science Fiction, Feminism, African American Voices, and Octavia E. Butler (2013).