Science Fiction Festival Returns To Pasadena School Named For Octavia E. Butler

The middle school once attended by — and eventually renamed for — the author Octavia E. Butler will hold its third Science Fiction Festival on Friday.

The multi-award winning and best selling author graduated from what was then Washington Junior High in 1962 and wrote some of her earliest stories while a student.

School librarian Natalie Daily organized the Octavia E. Butler Magnet’s first science fiction writing contest in 2020, the same year the school’s library was renamed in her honor. The school itself was renamed two years later.

“I want [students] to realize that their ideas matter,” Daily said. “I think that Butler is a testament to that, you know, she was writing stuff and thinking about really, really deep ideas when she was a student here.”

"It kind of sometimes feels like her eyes are watching you," librarian Natalie Daily said of the chalk portrait of Butler by Bianca Ornelas in the library. "I just kind of think, would I be making a space that she would have liked?"

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Mariana Dale

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In 2022, the school expanded the contest into the first Science Fiction Festival.

“It's just ways for kids to be engaged in both science and art, and creation,” Daily said. “To see themselves as part of all of it.”

Students and families can learn how to code robots, talk to an astronomer, create space-inspired art, and might even spot their favorite Star Wars character.

“Last year, the fungal expert was such a hit,” Daily said. “I had to have them back this year because the kids just thought it was so cool to see all those different weird mushrooms.”

The festival will also reveal the winners of the 2023-2024 science fiction contest. The now- annual school-wide competition includes art, short narrative, poetry, and graphic fiction.

A new generation of science fiction creators

LAist caught up with a few of the students who’d won first place in their respective categories in 2022 and will graduate later this year.

Roffman wrote "Savages" after watching Disney's Pocahontas and thinking about how aliens would view humans.

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Mariana Dale

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"I wrote a poem and I realized, wait a second, this is really fun," Roffman said. "So I put a lot of work into the poem."

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Mariana Dale

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LAist

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Then-sixth grader Brooklyn Roffman wrote a poem called “Savages” that imagines aliens demeaning earthlings the way European colonists did Native Americans.

“I wrote it and then I had a lot of thoughts about it — mostly negative thoughts,” Roffman said. “So then I just changed it, like, word by word.”

Her revisions paid off — she won first prize in the poetry category.

“It felt amazing,” Roffman said. “I put a lot of work into it and it felt really good to do something right for once.”

"I'm not very great at expressing my feelings, like, socially, so I just let out on writing," student Dayana Diaz said.

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Mariana Dale

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Diaz shared this excerpt from her story: "I bet you would think living on Mars in the year 3268 would be horrible, but its beauty speaks for itself. We humans came to Mars when it was finally very full of life. Earth, of course, still exists and is habitable, but we prefer to stay on Mars either way. Its atmosphere holds a soft pink sky with white clouds."

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Mariana Dale

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Dayana Diaz wrote a short story about people who built a life on Mars and a war with Jupiter that threatens to destroy it.

“It's similar to Earth — although it's, like, obviously not the same at all,” Diaz said. “It still has the same, like, beauty to it.”

Diaz said she was inspired by research about the possibility of sustaining life on the red planet.

“I feel like there's a good possibility that we could go there one day, and I would like that to happen,” Diaz said.

When she found out she won first prize, Diaz said she was surprised, happy, but also a little bit nervous.

“It just made me realize that I actually really do like writing,” Diaz said. “Like I should write a little more.”

Molnar's drawing was inspired by a science project about the impact of humans on coral reefs.

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Mariana Dale

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"Whenever I feel like unmotivated or, like, I just not in the mood to draw, I usually think about the things that I have done that went really well," Molnar said. "That kind of helps me."

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Mariana Dale

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LAist

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Maxine Molnar’s winning illustration shows a girl standing on a cliff looking out over a receding ocean. A spaceship and red sedan float above the water. Dots of color in the distance imply an airborne freeway.

“I learned more about endangered coral reefs, and I discovered how much I love to draw in perspective,” Molnar said.

Molnar said middle school has been full of opportunities to learn — academically — and about herself.

“I've explored more of, like, what I enjoy doing,” Molnar said. “What I'm really good at and things that I also need to work on.”