Ursula Kroeber Le Guin was an iconic American science fiction writer who lived from 1929 to 2018. Her prolific writing career spanned nearly six decades and produced 23 novels, 12 volumes of short stories, 11 volumes of poetry, 13 children’s books, five essay collections, and four works of translation. Her work was influenced by cultural anthropology, Taoism, feminism, and the writings of Carl Jung. She is most widely recognized for her novels set in her fictional Hainish universe and her Earthsea series. Le Guin’s books have sold millions of copies and been translated into more than 40 languages.
Le Guin began her writing career in the late 1950s. After years of rejection, including five novels that publishers deemed inaccessible, she turned to science fiction. Her first major work was the fourth book in the Hainish Cycle, The Left Hand of Darkness, which was published in 1969 and hailed as groundbreaking for its profound examination of gender roles and its moral and literary complexity. The novel went on to win both Nebula and Hugo awards.
After being tapped by a publisher of young adult books, Le Guin produced the first book of her Earthsea series, A Wizard of Earthsea, released in 1968. While the series is full of the expected dragons and sorcery, it also resonated with an adult audience due to its emotional maturity and depth.
A juggernaut in the science fiction community, Le Guin went on to influence the likes of Neil Gaiman, Salman Rushdie, David Mitchell, and Iain Banks. Joyce Carol Oates has called her "one of the great American writers and a visionary artist whose work will long endure." The list of awards she has received is vast and includes the National Book Award, the Kafka Prize, the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement, the Grand Master of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, and the status of Living Legend by the U.S. Library of Congress in 2000.
In 2021 the Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction was announced. The inaugural winner will be announced this year on October 21, Le Guin’s birthday.