Ursula K. Le Guin

Ursula K. Le Guin (1929–2018) was an American author of science fiction, fantasy, and literary fiction who is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most important writers in the history of speculative fiction. Born in Berkeley, California, the daughter of anthropologist Alfred Kroeber and writer Theodora Kroeber, she studied literature at Radcliffe College and Columbia University. Le Guin's science fiction masterworks include The Left Hand of Darkness (1969), The Dispossessed (1974), and the Hainish Cycle novels, as well as the beloved Earthsea fantasy series beginning with A Wizard of Earthsea (1968). Her work is celebrated for its philosophical depth, its rigorous exploration of gender, politics, and society, its ecological consciousness, and its extraordinary prose. She won the National Book Award, the Hugo Award, the Nebula Award, the Locus Award, the Kafka Prize, and the PEN/Malamud Award, among many other honours. Le Guin received the National Book Foundation's Distinguished Contribution to American Letters in 2014 and used her acceptance speech to deliver a celebrated address on the importance of literature that challenges capitalism and received wisdom. She lived most of her life in Portland, Oregon, and died at age eighty-eight.