Reading Groups

Octavia E. Butler's Xenogenesis Trilogy with Alaya Dawn Johnson

Clear

3 Sessions Saturdays, 1:00 pm EDT - 2:30 pm EDT July 11 to August 22, 2026

Online via Zoom

The ‘With Books’ option includes the titles required for this group at a 10% discount from our Bookstore.

Meeting Dates:
7/11, 8/1, 8/22
Online via Zoom

Lilith’s Brood, or the Xenogenesis trilogy, is an Octavia E. Butler masterwork: weird, wild, dangerous, compelling, and philosophically potent. It presents a view of humanity at once pessimistic and hopeful, and through its exploration of alien intervention at a time of apocalypse, we can see parallels to our current dangerous trajectory as a species. This trilogy explores the “human contradiction,” which the aliens in the series define as “intelligence in the service of hierarchy.” Is it our destiny to destroy ourselves with our intelligence and our hierarchies? Is another path possible? The explorations in this vital, but less-read, trilogy are precisely the conversations that we need to have right now, nearly twenty years after Butler’s untimely death.

Reading List:

Lilith’s Brood: The Xenogenesis Trilogy by Octavia E. Butler

What to expect from this reading group: This will be a conversational and participant-driven class, with the instructor providing context and guiding questions throughout.

What to read in advance of the first meeting: Participants should read Dawn, the first book of the trilogy, before the first class.

We offer a limited number of need-based scholarships for our Reading Groups and Writing Workshops, covering 50% of tuition. Applicants selected for scholarships will be notified one week prior to the first meeting. To apply for a scholarship, please fill out this form.

Pricing inclusive of sales tax if applicable. Please note: All virtual classes are recorded. Please click here for information about our recording policy.

Led by

Alaya Dawn Johnson

Alaya Dawn Johnson

Alaya Dawn Johnson is an award-winning short story writer and the author of eight novels for adults and young adults. Her most recent novel, The Library of Broken Worlds, was a finalist for the Ursula K. Le Guin prize. Her novel Trouble the Saints won the 2021 World Fantasy Award for best novel. Her debut short story collection, Reconstruction, was an Ignyte Award and a Hurston/Wright Legacy Award finalist. Her short stories have appeared in many magazines and anthologies, most notably the title story in The Memory Librarian, in collaboration with Janelle Monáe. She is currently the visiting professor in the MFA program of Queens College (CUNY), and writes essays for her newsletter, A stranger comes home.

About this series

Reading Groups

Whether you’re looking to catch up on great novels or you’re interested in exploring a new writer or literary period, our reading groups offer high-level literary discussion led by experts in the field.

Groups+Workshops

More Groups+Workshops

Groups+Workshops