Happy birthday to Ursula le Guin
By Jess McCabe | 21 October 2009, 16:10
Today is Ursula le Guin’s birthday, Ambling Along the Aqueduct reminds us.
Le Guin is on the list of mindblowing science fiction by women & people of colour we linked to recently. You can read an interesting short story she wrote at Infinity Matrix, the seasons of the ansarac, (which appeared in Changing Planes, a collection of short stories roughly in which humans have discovered the ability to shift between different worlds through intense airport-induced boredom).
The Guardian also did a good interview with her a few years ago, which will make most sense for fans very familiar with her various creations.
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Feeds
gadgetgal said:
I'm a BIG fan of Earthsea, happy birthday to Ursula!!
Posted on 21 October 2009 at 4:22 PM
Rachel said:
Yes - Happy Birth-Day Ms Le Guin
I virtually lived in Earthsea as a kid - as a young feminist I longed to have her write more about the women and then discovered Tehanu in a bookshop in Plymouth and cried.
Went on to read nearly everything she has ever written - thanks for The Disposessed, Word for World is Forest, Left hand of Darkness, Always Coming Home, especially... and for theorising that the worlds most important invention was not the wheel but the bag [for carying food and leaving your hands free for looking after the kids].
Thank you for writing about women antarctic explorers who came back without trace and never told anyone.
Thanks for your determination to ensure you characters remain visible as people of colour [in book jackets, films etc.]
and above all for being a far seeing anthropoligist of elsewhere.
Posted on 21 October 2009 at 4:39 PM
Jess McCabe said:
@Rachel I only just started reading Ursula's writing very recently, although I think I dipped into Earthsea when I was a kid. A friend suggested I read Always Coming Home when I was looking for something new, and now I'm a big fan. I'm glad there's still so much back catalogue for me to read :-)
Posted on October 21, 2009 4:45 PM
Daniela Vincenti said:
Happy birthday to Ursula Le Guin, a great writer, a great feminist and an inspiration to us all.
Posted on 21 October 2009 at 5:47 PM
saranga said:
Happy birthday to Le Guin! I think she's brilliant.
Posted on 21 October 2009 at 9:36 PM
thebeardedlady said:
Ditto to what everyone else said!
I never read the Earthsea stuff but I'm a huge fan of everything else. Was having a big convo about her writing in the pub tonight, as it happens. We were saying she seems to be the only feminist sf writer who manages to be relatively mainstream and doesn't endure marginalisation and rubbishing in the sf community.
Big love for her.
Posted on 21 October 2009 at 11:24 PM
JenniferRuth said:
Happy Birthday to Ursula! I always find that her books make great presents in themselves!
Posted on 22 October 2009 at 8:52 AM
Asni said:
Happy Birthday Ursula Le Guin!
I know it's a bit late.... but I've already written happy birthday posts of my own yesterday on Facebook and Deviantart, does that count? :D
I can't believe I only discovered your books a year or so ago.
Lots of catching up to do!!! And major inspiration for my own, hum, cre-ai-tivity.
Posted on 22 October 2009 at 2:16 PM
calyx said:
Happy Birthday, Ursula Le Guin!
Your novels, your creativity, your understanding of human nature, your open-mindedness, and your ability to imagine societies radically different to what we know - breathtaking.
Posted on 23 October 2009 at 3:57 AM