Award-winning author Ibi Zoboi has penned a “biographical constellation” of the late, great Black feminist sci-fi writer Octavia Butler. Called Star Child (Dutton, January 2022), the book contains poems, short essays, and actual fragments of Butler’s own writing and musings.

It is ostensibly written for a Middle Grade audience, but is accessible for anyone who wants a view of Butler the visionary thinker as a child and teen.

I talked with Zoboi about her connection to ’90s Black Nerdom, how Butler’s expansive vision inspired her own writing, and much more.

Star Child is available online and at bookstores everywhere.