Ursula K. Le Guin

Infobox Writer
name = Ursula Kroeber Le Guin


caption = Ursula K. Le Guin at an informal bookstore Q&A session, July 2004
pseudonym =
birthdate = birth date and age|1929|10|21|mf=y
birthplace = Berkeley, California, United States
deathdate =
deathplace =
occupation = Novelist
nationality = American
period =
genre = Science fiction
fantasy
subject =
movement =
notableworks =
influences = Carl JungThe Rough Guide To Cult Fiction", Tom Bullough, et al., Penguin Books Ltd, London, 2005, p.163 ]
J.R.R. Tolkien
Greek mythology
influenced = Neil Gaiman
Susanna Clarke
Hayao Miyazaki
website = http://www.ursulakleguin.com

Ursula Kroeber Le Guin (PronEng|ˈɝsələ ˈkroʊbɚ ləˈgwɪn) (born October 21, 1929) is an American author. She has written novels, poetry, children's books, essays, and short stories, most notably in the fantasy and science fiction genres.

She was first published in the 1960s. Her works explore Taoist, anarchist, ethnographic, feminist, psychological and sociological themes. She has received several Hugo and Nebula awards, and was awarded the Gandalf Grand Master award in 1979 and the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Grand Master Award in 2003. She has received eighteen Locus Awards, more than any other author.Fact|date=September 2008 Her novel "The Farthest Shore" won the National Book Award for Children's Books in 1973.

Le Guin was the Professional Guest of Honor at the 1975 World Science Fiction Convention in Melbourne, Australia. She received the Library of Congress "Living Legends" award in the "Writers and Artists" category in April 2000 for her significant contributions to America's cultural heritage. [" [http://www.loc.gov/about/awards/legends/bio/leguin.html|Living Legends: Ursula LeGuin] ", Awards and Honors (Library of Congress).] In 2004, Le Guin was the recipient of the Association for Library Service to Children's May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture Award. She was honored by The Washington Center for the Book for her distinguished body of work with the Maxine Cushing Gray Fellowship for Writers on 18 October 2006. [" [http://www.spl.org/default.asp?pageID=about_news_detail&cid=1158624484322|Library News Release] ," The Seattle Public Library, 19 October 2006.] Robert Heinlein in part dedicated his 1982 novel Friday to Ursula. [cite book | author=Heinlein, Robert A | title=Friday| publisher=New England Library | year=1984 | id=ISBN 0-450-05549-3]

Biography

Le Guin was born and raised in Berkeley, California, the daughter of the anthropologist Alfred L. Kroeber and Theodora Kroeber, a writer. In 1901 father was granted the first Ph.D. in Anthropology in the United States history by (Columbia University).Fact|date=September 2008 Her mother's biography of Alfred Kroeber, "Alfred Kroeber: A Personal Configuration", is a good source for Le Guin's early years and for the biographical elements in her late works, especially her interest in social anthropology.

She received her B.A. ("Phi Beta Kappa") from Radcliffe College in 1951, and M.A. from Columbia University in 1952. She later studied in France, where she met her husband, historian Charles Le Guin. They were married in 1953.

She became interested in literature when she was very young. At the age of eleven she submitted her first story to the magazine "Astounding Science Fiction" (it was rejected).Fact|date=September 2008 Her earliest writings (some of which appear in adapted in "Orsinian Tales" and "Malafrena"), were non-fantastic stories of imaginary countries. Searching for a publishable way to express her interests, she returned to her early interest in science fiction and began to be published regularly in the early 1960s. She began to receive wide recognition after her novel "The Left Hand of Darkness", which won the Hugo and Nebula awards in 1970.

In later years, she also did some work in film and audio. She had a part with "The Lathe of Heaven", a 1979 PBS Film. In 1985, she collaborated with avant garde composer David Bedford on the libretto of opera "Rigel 9",a space opera.

Le Guin has lived in Portland, Oregon since 1958. She has three children and four grandchildren.

Themes

Much of Le Guin's science fiction places a strong emphasis on the social sciences, including sociology and anthropology, thus placing it in the subcategory known as soft science fiction. [ [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0047-7729%28198422%2914%3A3%3C43%3A%22IDLTD%3E2.0.CO%3B2-2 Charlotte Spivack, "'Only in Dying, Life': The Dynamics of Old Age in the Fiction of Ursula Le Guin," "Modern Language Studies", Vol. 14, No. 3. (Summer, 1984), pp. 43-53] ] Her writing often makes use of unusual alien cultures to convey a message about human culture in general, for example, the exploration of sexual identity through the androgynous race in "The Left Hand of Darkness". Such themes place her work in the canon of feminist science fiction. [ [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0307-6776%28197810%290%3A28%3C4%3AGAIMBA%3E2.0.CO%3B2-T Marilyn Strathern, "Gender as It Might Be: A Review Article," "RAIN", No. 28. (Oct., 1978), pp. 4-7.] ] Her works are also often concerned with ecological issues.

Le Guin's work is marked by the attention she pays to the ordinary actions and transactions of everyday life. For example in 'Tehanu' it is central to the story that the main characters are concerned with the everyday business of looking after animals, tending gardens and doing domestic chores. Thus, her works can be seen as anthropological.Fact|date=September 2008 She creates otherworldly perspectives to explore political and cultural themes. Le Guin has also written fiction set much closer to home; many of her short stories are set in our world in the present or near future.

Several of Le Guin's science fiction works, including her novels "The Dispossessed" and "The Left Hand of Darkness", fit into the Hainish Cycle, which details a future, galactic civilization loosely connected by a organizational body known as the Ekumen. Many of these works deal with the consequences of contact between different worlds and cultures and the Ekumen serves as a framework in which to stage these interactions.Fact|date=September 2008 For example, the novels "The Left Hand of Darkness" and "The Telling" deal with the consequences of the arrival of Ekumen envoys (known as "mobiles") on remote planets and the culture shock that ensues.

A notable feature of her science fiction work that sets it apart from much of mainstream hard science fiction is that none of the civilizations she depicts possess reliable faster-than-light travel. In response to this she created the ansible, a device which allows instantaneous communication over any distance. The term has been subsequently borrowed by several other well-known authors.

Adaptations of her work

Despite her literary recognition, most of Le Guin's major works have yet to be adapted to film or television. Her 1971 novel "The Lathe of Heaven" has been adapted twice. First, in 1980 by thirteen/WNET New York, with her own participation, and again in 2002 by the A&E Network.

In the early 1980's animator and director Hayao Miyazaki had asked permission to create an animated adaptation of Earthsea. However, Le Guin, who was unfamiliar with his work and anime in general, turned down the offer. Several years later, after seeing "My Neighbour Totoro", she reconsidered her stance, believing that if anyone should be allowed to direct an Earthsea film, it should be Hayao Miyazaki. Eventually The third and fourth Earthsea books were used as the basis of the 2005 animated film Nihongo|"Tales from Earthsea"|ゲド戦記|Gedo Senki. However the film was directed by Miyazaki's son, Goro instead and Le Guin has expressed mixed feelings toward it. [ [http://www.ursulakleguin.com/GedoSenkiResponse.html Ursula K. LeGuin, "Gedo Senki"] ] The first two books of the Earthsea trilogy have also been adapted, as the 2004 miniseries "Legend of Earthsea" by the Sci Fi Channel. This adaptation was frowned upon by Le Guin, who says that she was "cut out of the process" and that the miniseries was a "far cry from the Earthsea I envisioned." [ [http://www.slate.com/id/2111107/ A Whitewashed Earthsea: How the Sci Fi Channel Wrecked My Books] .] As a result of copyright issues stemming from miniseries, the animated film is unable to be released in the United States until 2009. [ [http://www.ursulakleguin.com/GedoSenkiResponse.html Ursula K. LeGuin, "Gedo Senki"] ]

Fiction

Earthsea (fantasy)

The Earthsea novels

* "A Wizard of Earthsea", 1968
* "The Tombs of Atuan", 1971
* "The Farthest Shore", 1972 (Winner of the National Book Award)
* "", 1990 (Winner of the Nebula Award)
* "Tales from Earthsea", 2001
* "The Other Wind", 2001

"Note": The short story "Dragonfly" from "Tales from Earthsea" is intended to fit in between "Tehanu" and "The Other Wind" and, according to Le Guin, is "an important bridge in the series as a whole". [ [http://www.ursulakleguin.com/OtherWind_Note.html The Other Wind, Ursula K. Le Guin's Website] ]

The Earthsea short stories

* "The Word of Unbinding", 1975 (in "The Wind's Twelve Quarters"; originally published in the January 1964 issue of Fantastic)
* "The Rule of Names", 1975 (in "The Wind's Twelve Quarters")
* "Dragonfly" (in "Legends", ed. Robert Silverberg; also in "Tales from Earthsea")
* "Tales from Earthsea", short story collection, 2001 (winner of Endeavour Award)

Hainish Cycle (science fiction)

The Hainish Cycle novels

* "Rocannon's World", 1966
* "Planet of Exile", 1966
* "City of Illusions", 1967
* "The Left Hand of Darkness", 1969 (winner of the Hugo Award and Nebula Award)
* "", 1974 (winner of the Hugo Award and Nebula Award)
* "The Word for World is Forest", 1976 (winner of the Hugo Award)
* "Four Ways to Forgiveness", 1995 (Four Stories of the Ekumen)
* "Worlds of Exile and Illusion", 1996 (omnibus of "Rocannon's World", "Planet of Exile" and "City of Illusions")
* "The Telling", 2000 (winner of Endeavour Award)

The Hainish Cycle short stories

* "Dowry of the Angyar", 1964 (appears as "Semley's Necklace" in "The Wind's Twelve Quarters"; also used as the prologue of "Rocannon's World")
* "Winter's King", 1969 (in "The Wind's Twelve Quarters")
* "Vaster Than Empires and More Slow", 1971 (in "The Wind's Twelve Quarters")
* "The Day Before the Revolution", 1974 (in "The Wind's Twelve Quarters"; winner of the Nebula Award and Locus Award)
* "The Shobies' Story", 1990 (in "A Fisherman of the Inland Sea")
* "Dancing to Ganam", 1993 (in "A Fisherman of the Inland Sea")
* "Another Story OR A Fisherman of the Inland Sea", 1994 (in "A Fisherman of the Inland Sea")
* "The Matter of Seggri", 1994 (in "The Birthday of the World"; winner of the James Tiptree, Jr. Award)
* "Unchosen Love", 1994 (in "The Birthday of the World")
* "Solitude", 1994 (in "The Birthday of the World"; winner of the Nebula Award)
* "Coming of Age in Karhide", 1995 (in "The Birthday of the World")
* "Mountain Ways", 1996 (in "The Birthday of the World"; winner of the James Tiptree, Jr. Award)
* "Old Music and the Slave Women", 1999 (in "The Birthday of the World")

Miscellaneous novels and story cycles

* "The Lathe of Heaven", 1971 (made into TV movies, 1980 and 2002)
* "The Eye of the Heron", 1978 (first published in the anthology "Millennial Women")
* "Malafrena", 1979
* "The Beginning Place", 1980 (also published as "Threshold", 1986)
* "Always Coming Home", 1985
* "Lavinia", 2008
* "Direction of the Road", ?

"Note:" Le Guin has said that "The Eye of the Heron" "might" form part of the Hainish cycle. The other tales are unconnected with any of her other works, except that "Malafrena" takes place in the same realistic-but-imagined part of Europe as "Orsinian Tales".

Short story collections

* "The Wind's Twelve Quarters", 1975
* "Orsinian Tales", 1976
* "The Compass Rose", 1982
* "Buffalo Gals, and Other Animal Presences", 1987
* "Searoad", 1991
* "A Fisherman of the Inland Sea", 1994
* "Unlocking the Air and Other Stories", 1996
* "The Birthday of the World", 2002, ISBN
* "Changing Planes", 2003, ISBN

Books for children and young adults

The Catwings Collection

* "Catwings", 1988
* "Catwings Return", 1989
* "Wonderful Alexander and the Catwings", 1994
* "Jane on her Own", 1999

Annals of the Western Shore

* "Gifts", 2004
* "Voices", 2006
* "Powers", 2007

Other books for children and young adults

* "Very Far Away from Anywhere Else", 1976, ISBN 0-15-205208-9
* "Leese Webster", 1979, ISBN 0-689-30715-2
* "Solomon Leviathan's Nine Hundred and Thirty-First Trip Around the World", 1984, ISBN 0-399-21491-7
* "A Visit from Dr. Katz", 1988, ISBN 0-689-31332-2
* "Fire and Stone", 1989, ISBN 0-689-31408-6
* "Fish Soup", 1992, ISBN 0-689-31733-6
* "A Ride on the Red Mare's Back", 1992, ISBN 0-531-07079-4
* "Tom Mouse", 2002, ISBN 0-7613-1599-3

Nonfiction

Prose

* "The Language of the Night", 1979, revised edition 1992
* "Dancing at the Edge of the World", 1989
* "Revisioning Earthsea", 1992 (a published lecture - essay)
* "Steering the Craft", 1998 (about writing)
* "The Wave in the Mind", 2004

Poetry

* "Wild Angels", 1975
* "Hard Words and Other Poems", 1981
* "Wild Oats and Fireweed", 1988
* "Going Out with Peacocks and Other Poems", 1994
* "", 1999
* "Incredible Good Fortune", 2006

Translations and Renditions

* "Lao Tzu : Tao Te Ching, a Book about the Way & the Power of the Way", 1997 (a rendition and commentary) ISBN 1-57062-333-3
* "Kalpa Imperial", 2003, from Angélica Gorodischer's Spanish original.
* "Selected Poems of Gabriela Mistral", from Gabriela Mistral's Spanish originals.

:"See also:" "The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas"

Le Guin is a prolific author and has published many works that are not listed here. Many works were originally published in science fiction literary magazines. Those that have not since been anthologized have fallen into obscurity.Fact|date=September 2007

Scholarship

*Brown, Joanne, & St. Clair, Nancy, "Declarations of Independence: Empowered Girls in Young Adult Literature, 1990–2001" (Lanham, MD, & London: The Scarecrow Press, 2002 [Scarecrow Studies in Young Adult Literature, No. 7] )
*Cart, Michael, "From Romance to Realism: 50 Years of Growth and Change in Young Adult Literature" (New York: HarperCollins, 1996)
*Davis, Laurence & Peter Stillman, eds, "The New Utopian Politics of Ursula K. Le Guin's "The Dispossessed" (New York: Lexington Books, 2005)
*Egoff, Sheila, Stubbs, G. T., & Ashley, L. F., eds, "Only Connect: Readings on Children’s Literature" (Toronto & New York: Oxford University Press, 1969; 2nd ed., 1980; 3rd ed., 1996)
*Egoff, Sheila A., "Worlds Within: Children’s Fantasy from the Middle Ages to Today" (Chicago & London: American Library Association, 1988)
*Lehr, Susan, ed., "Battling Dragons: Issues and Controversy in Children’s Literature" (Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 1995)
*Lennard, John, "Of Modern Dragons and other essays on Genre Fiction" (Tirril: Humanities-Ebooks, 2007)
*Reginald, Robert, & Slusser, George, eds, "Zephyr and Boreas: Winds of Change in the Fictions of Ursula K. Le Guin" (San Bernadino, CA: Borgo Press, 1997)
*Rochelle, Warren G., "Communities of the Heart: The Rhetoric of Myth in the Fiction of Ursula K. Le Guin" (Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2001)
*Sullivan III, C. W., ed., "Young Adult Science Fiction" (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1999 [Contributions to the Study of Science Fiction and Fantasy 79] )
*Trites, Roberta Seelinger, "Disturbing the Universe: Power and Repression in Adolescent Literature" (Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 2000)
*Wayne, Kathryn Ross, "Redefining Moral Education: Life, Le Guin, and Language" (Lanham, MD: Austin & Winfield, 1995)
*White, Donna R., "Dancing with Dragons: Ursula K. Le Guin and the Critics" (Ontario: Camden House, 1998 [Literary Criticism in Perspective] )

References

External links

* [http://inkwellreview.blogspot.com/2008/06/sing-muse-of-woman-unsung.html Interview with Le Guin on The Inkwell Review, on her novel Lavinia.]
* [http://www.abc.net.au/rn/bookshow/stories/2008/2221112.htm Interview with Ramona Koval on the Book Show, ABC Radio National on her novel Lavinia.]
* [http://www.guernicamag.com/interviews/505/breaking_into_the_spell/ Interview with Le Guin in Guernica Magazine.]
* [http://books.guardian.co.uk/departments/sciencefiction/story/0,6000,1144428,00.html Chronicles of Earthsea Guardian Unlimited Interview with Ursula K. Le Guin, February 9, 2004.]
* [http://www.ursulakleguin.com Ursula Le Guin's homepage]
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* [http://www.feministsf.org/femsf/authors/leguin/ Collection of Ursula Le Guin info at feministsf.org]
* [http://www.litweb.net/biography/66/Ursula%20Le_Guin.html LitWeb.net: Ursula Le Guin Biography]
*
* [http://books.guardian.co.uk/departments/childrenandteens/story/0,6000,1669112,00.html Interview in "The Guardian" December 17 2005]
* [http://www.slate.com/Default.aspx?id=2111107&MSID=42B8DFDE8F8C42A3907D2D4AE315A3ED More about LeGuin and the Earthsea film]
* [http://www.kcrw.com/etc/programs/bw/bw920127ursula_leguin/media_player_archives?action=listen Radio Interview with Ursula LeGuin on "Bookworm"]
* [http://www.fantasyliterature.net/leguinursula.html Reviews, synopses, and cover art at FantasyLiterature.net]
* [http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89698554 Interview about her Lavinia on National Public Radio's "All Things Considered" April 26 2008]
* [http://radio.nationalreview.com/betweenthecovers/post/?q=OTg1NzdhZGIxNzg5MWFmMDZmMTllYmYwOGQxMGZlNDk= Audio interview with Le Guin at National Review Online]
* [http://www.pdxjustice.org/#LeGuin_22Apr2008 VIDEO: Ursula K. Le Guin reads from her novel, LAVINIA] , April 22, 2008, Powell's City of Books, Portland, Oregon.
* [http://www.abc.net.au/rn/bookshow/stories/2008/2233834.htm#transcript Transcript of interview on Australia's ABC Radio National "The Book Show" program - mainly about "Lavinia" - May 4, 2008]

Persondata
NAME= Le Guin, Ursula K.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=Le Guin, Ursula Kroeber
SHORT DESCRIPTION= American novelist
DATE OF BIRTH= October 21, 1929
PLACE OF BIRTH= Berkeley, California, United States
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=