Ursula K. Le Guin

State: Oregon

Ursula K. Le Guin (1929–2018) was a groundbreaking American novelist, short-story writer, poet, and essayist whose career spanned nearly six decades. Born in Berkeley, California, to anthropologist parents, she studied French and Italian literature at Radcliffe College and earned an M.A. from Columbia University. Le Guin authored over twenty novels, more than a hundred short stories, numerous poetry collections, children’s books, and essays. She gained international acclaim for her speculative fiction, notably the Hainish series (The Left Hand of Darkness, The Dispossessed) and the Earthsea fantasy series (A Wizard of Earthsea). Her writing explored themes of gender, ecology, anarchism, and cultural pluralism, drawing on Taoist philosophy and anthropological insight. A multiple Hugo and Nebula Award winner, she was also recognized with the National Book Foundation Medal in 2014 and inducted as a SFWA Grand Master. Le Guin’s literary influence profoundly reshaped science fiction and fantasy, cementing her status as one of America’s great writers.

Genres: Fantasy, Nonfiction, Picture Book, Poetry, Science Fiction

Audiences: Adult, All Ages, Children's, Young Adult