Ursula Le Guin biography

Ursula Kroeber Le Guin was born on the 21st October 1929 in California and is an American author of novels, poetry and short stories. She has won numerous awards during her distinguished career, notably the Fantasy Writers of America Grand Master award in 2003.

It is with Le Guin's fantasy series Earthsea that we will concentrate. In 1968, A Wizard of Earthsea was published and this was followed by The Tombs of Atuan in 1971, and The Farthest Shore in 1972. In 1990, Ursula Le Guin came back to the series with Tehanu. These four books now make up a new publication entitled The Earthsea Quartet. The Other Wind, published in 2001 completes the novels of Earthsea. A number of short stories also bridge gaps between the main novels. The Word of Unbinding and The Rule of Names (1975), plus Dragonfly and The Tales of Earthsea (2001) are all vital reading for all Earthsea fans.

There are strong themes of sociology and anthropology running through Ursula Le Guin's work and her attention to detail has been a factor in the worldwide popularity of her work.

Ursula Le Guin describes her working day as not thrilling in anyone else's eyes but one full of passion, excitement, anxiety, joy and grief to her.

The word feminist has often been thrown at Ursula Le Guin and at her books but in reality this very far from the truth. She simply makes the female characters in her books as important as the male's and ensures that they are characters and not stereotypes.

Ursula Le Guin has three children and four grandchildren and has lived in Portland since 1958. She wrote her first story at the age of eleven before earning a Bachelor of Arts from Radcliffe College and a Master of Arts from Columbia University. Later, studying in France she met her future husband Charles Le Guin.

When asked for her opinion on the Harry Potter novel, she said that she found the first Harry Potter book to be a "lively kid's fantasy crossed with a 'school novel'" but also found it "stylistically ordinary, imaginatively derivative, and ethically rather mean-spirited." It has been said that "Rowling can type, but Le Guin can write."

Ursula Le Guin awards

• National Book Award for The Farthest Shore
• Nebula Award for Tehanu
• Endeavour Award for The Tales from Earthsea

Ursula Le Guin books

• A Wizard of Earthsea (1968)
• The Tombs of Atuan (1971)
• The Farthest Shore (1972)
• Tehanu (1990)
• The Other Wind (2001)
• The Word of Unbinding (1975)
• The Rule of Names (1975)
• Tales from Earthsea (2001)
• Gifts (2004)
• Voices (2006)
• Powers (2007)

Ursula Le Guin interviews

An Ursula Le Guin question and answer session with The Guardian in 2004. Ursula Le Guin interview in The Guardian (2004) >>

In an interview with a Spanish fantasy website Ursula Le Guin discusses feminism and her writing style. The interview is initially in Spanish but trancripted into English further down the page.
Ursula Le Guin interview >>

Ursula Le Guin critical acclaim

Latest news: Ursula Le Guin

Fantasy news round-up, August 2, 2010
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Fantasy news round-up: May 20, 2010
Light a candle for JK Rowling’s charity JK Rowling's children's charity, Lumos, is asking you to light a virtual birthday candle to support its campaign to deinstitutionalise children in eastern European countries such as Moldova and the Czech Republic. Thousands of children living in these inst [...]

Puffin’s Top 70 children’s book ever
Puffin has published its list of what it considers the 70 best children's books of all time. It is an impressive list and will provide bookworms with a wonderful choice when they next look for a book. Amongst the list are many Fantasy Book Review favourites including A Wizard of Earthsea, Watership [...]

The Citizen Patriot’s excellent Ursula Le Guin interview
Jackson District Library will be hosting a Big Read event, sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts, and inspired by Le Guin’s Earthsea books. The Citizen Patriot conducted a really interesting and informative interview with Le Guin prior to the Big Read launch. Living in the UK as I do, the [...]

Interview with Chris Dolley of the Book View Café (February 2010)
Book View Café is a cooperative site created by a group of writers - including internationally renowned authors Katharine Kerr, Ursula Le Guin and Vonda N. McIntyre - who want to take advantage of the internet’s possibilities for reaching a wider audience and to distribute their work directly to th [...]

The ins and outs of the Google Book Settlement
The families of John Steinbeck and Woody Guthrie have decided to opt in to the revised Google Book Search settlement. Gail Steinbeck, who initially opposed the settlement and Arlo Guthrie, said they would not bring a separate lawsuit against Google. Ms. Steinbeck is the wife of the late John Steinbe [...]

Ursula Le Guin gathers writers to fight against Google digital book settlement
As the January 28 deadline approaches for those wishing to opt-out of the Google digital book settlement, author Ursula Le Guin has gathered more than 300 signatures in her fight against the scheme to digitise books. Le Guin has been vocal in her opposition to the Google book settlement, recently si [...]

Alison Goodman interview (January 2010)
Alison Goodman was born in Melbourne and, after a bit of wandering, recently returned to live there. She was a D.J. O’Hearn Memorial Fellow at Melbourne University, holds a Masters degree and teaches creative writing at postgraduate level. Her debut novel was the award-winning futuristic thriller S [...]

Round-up: JA Rowling, Bath-time for Pullman and Le Guin not finished yet
A round-up of fantasy news around the world. A rare JK Rowling uncorrected proof sells for £1,600 An uncorrected proof edition of JK Rowling’s very first Harry Potter book has been sold for £1600 at auction. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, attributed to JA Rowling was bought by a co [...]

Dragon Slippers by Jessica Day George reviewed on Fantasy Book Review
Delightful Dragon Tale - Sandy Lender's review of Dragon Slippers by Jessica Day George A quick opening gets us right into the first portion of the story. The aunt and uncle who have taken in Creelisel Carlbrun and her brother Hagen can’t afford the extra mouths and certainly can’t offer a dowry to [...]