Empathy, Research, and Resistance: Interview with Susana M. Morris about Positive Obsession

This week, I talk with Susana M. Morris about her Octavia E. Butler cultural biography Positive Obsession: The Life and Times of Octavia E. Butler.

Listen to hear about:

• Octavia Butler’s journey from a shy, self-diagnosed dyslexic student to a groundbreaking sci-fi author, and how her relentless “positive obsession” with writing shaped her career.
  
• How Butler’s work reflects deep research, historical pattern recognition, and sharp social insight—explaining why her stories feel prophetic even though she chaffed at that comparison.
  
• The personal costs and creative rewards of dedicating your life to meaningful work, and how Butler’s example encourages artists and writers to pursue their own Positive Obsessions.

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Other Co-hosts On Instagram:

Gare Billings @gareindeedreads

Steph Lauer @books.in.badgerland

Halley Sutton @halleysutton25

Brian Watson @readingwithbrian

MacKenzie Green @missusa2mba