On February 18th, 2021, NASA landed their Perseverance rover on Mars. A few weeks later, in March, they announced that the landing site of the rover would be named “Octavia E. Butler Landing” after the esteemed science fiction author. We at the Crawfordsville District Public Library wanted to celebrate this announcement by creating a display of Butler’s work along with some of the other great authors who have been honored with having a place on Mars named after them. Stop by the library in the next couple of weeks to take a look at our “Literary Tour of Mars” display and maybe take a book or two home with you. You can also check out a digital version of the display at our website. Go to: www.cdpl.lib.in.us/bookdisplays. Here’s a sneak preview of the authors featured in the display:
- Octavia E. Butler Landing: The first author is obviously Octavia Butler. She was the first African-American woman to win the Hugo and Nebula awards and the first sci-fi writer to be honored with a MacArthur Fellowship. She is known for such works as the Xenogenesis trilogy and the Parable and Patternist series. Non sci-fi readers may be familiar with her historical fiction book Kindred (FIC But).
- Wells Crater: Next we have H.G. Wells. You may recognize him as the author of The War of the Worlds (FIC Wel), a story in which Martians invade earth. Wells wrote in many genres, but today he is remembered mostly for his science fiction.
- Burroughs Crater: Edgar Rice Burroughs was a speculative fiction writer, best known for his prolific output in adventure, science fiction and fantasy genres. His most well-known creations include Tarzan of the Apes (FIC Bur), and John Carter of Mars (DVD FIC Joh).
- Weinbaum Crater: Stanley G. Weinbaum’s short story “A Martian Odyssey” (FIC Big) gained him a spot on the red planet. This and his many other short stories laid the groundwork for modern science fiction.
- Bradbury Landing Site: Most people will recognize Ray Bradbury as the author of Fahrenheit 451 (FIC Bra). But he actually wrote many, many other books and short stories, including The Martian Chronicles (FIC Bra), hence his inclusion as a place name on Mars.
- Heinlein Crater: Robert A. Heinlein is known in the literary world as the creator of “hard science fiction”. One of his most famous (and controversial) books is Stranger in a Strange Land (FIC Hei), which tells the story of a human being who was raised by Martians on Mars and his struggle to understand other humans once he returns to earth.
- Carl Sagan Memorial Station: Unlike the other writers on this list, our last author, Carl Sagan, did not write sci-fi. He was an astronomer, planetary scientist, cosmologist, astrophysicist, astrobiologist, science communicator, and author. While he was probably most famous for his television show Cosmos, he was also a prolific writer. He published more than 600 scientific papers and articles and was author, co-author, or editor of more than 20 books.
If you would like to learn a little more about any of these authors or want to check out a few of their books, come take a look at the library’s display!
Emma Lashley is a Library Assistant in the Reference & Local History Department at CDPL.
