Ursula K. Le Guin

In this refusal of futurity, Ursula K. Le Guin takes a non-linear journey – full of side trips and reversals – to offer a counter-imaginary of place. Drawing on Taoist thought, Le Guin shows a way out of the ‘hot’ yang motorcycle trip of colonial modernity – and its doctrine of technological progress and future utopias – to return, go round, go inward, go yinward. Advocating for what is yielding, cyclical and resistant to abstraction, Le Guin shows that the Golden Age is right here, right now – invisible only to the forward-oriented mind. A Non-Euclidean View of California as a Cold Place to Be moves through mythic and Indigenous cosmologies, literary criticism, anthropology and divination to loosen the grip of Euclidean reason. In it, Le Guin demonstrates that how we write is inseparable from how we imagine worlds. Non-linear, ‘cold’ and anti-heroic forms become narrative tools for resisting domination: in literary style, alternative social imaginaries can be rehearsed so that utopia emerges not as an engineered elsewhere, but as a practice of staying with and inhabiting the present.

Ursula K. Le Guin witnessed and contributed to many of the twentieth century’s rebellions and upheavals, including women’s liberation, the Civil Rights movement and US anti-war and environmental activism. Spanning fifty years of her life and work, Space Crone brings together Le Guin’s writings on feminism and gender for the first time, offering new insights into her imaginative, multispecies feminist consciousness: from its roots in deep ecology and philosophies of non-violence to her self-education about racism and her writing on motherhood and ageing. This new, expanded edition for 2025 includes the influential essay 'The Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction'.

”Amerikas mest framstående science fiction-författare” The New York Times Människorna har intagit skogsplaneten Athshe, och i deras spår följer blodiga konflikter med den fredliga urbefolkningen. Och när väl våldet släppts lös finns ingen möjlighet till försoning … Där världens kallas skog är en ursinnig kritik av kolonialism och miljöförstörelse: medan skogen är urbefolkningens hela värld, full av mening och historia, är den för erövrarna bara en outnyttjad resurs. Boken var skriven som en kommentar till Vietnamkriget, men tematiken är fortfarande aktuell. Ursula K. Le Guin (1921–2018) omnämns ofta som en new wave-författare inom science fiction-litteraturen, där tonvikten låg på psykologi snarare än teknologi. För Där världen kallas skog erhöll hon 1973 års Hugo-utmärkelse för bästa kortroman och nomineringar till flera andra priser. Boken är en av delarna i den så kallade Hain-cykeln men kan läsas som en fristående berättelse.

Ursula K Le Guin reflects on genre, her origins as a writer and artistic responsibility. In this wide-ranging collection, the beloved author discusses her role as a public intellectual and educator, as well as the writing of her major works such as A Wizard of Earthsea and The Left Hand of Darkness. Beginning from science fiction and fantasy as mediums for true literary exploration, Le Guin advocates for the importance of the imagination.

'A rich and complex story of friendship and love' GUARDIAN'Love doesn't just sit there, like a stone, it has to be made, like bread; remade all the time, made new' Two people, until recently strangers, find themselves on a long, tortuous and dangerous journey across the ice. One is an outcast, forced to leave his beloved homeland; the other is fleeing from a different kind of persecution. What they have in common is curiosity, about others and themselves, and an almost unshakeable belief that the world can be a better place. As they journey for over 800 miles, across the harshest, most inhospitable landscape, they discover the true meaning of friendship, and of love.Readers love The Left Hand of Darkness:'This book overwhelmed me with how good it was, and how different it ended up from what I expected . . . a deep story of humanity, love, betrayal, alienation, and acceptance' Goodreads reviewer, ? ? ? ? ?'The world is so rich in detail that it becomes an adventure to explore it, and the nuanced character dynamics keep the pages turning . . . a fabulous exploration of fluid gender and sexuality' Goodreads reviewer, ? ? ? ? ?'This novel is just the right balance of nuance, world-building and philosophical musings that culminate into a staggeringly empathetic work . . . a great work of feminism' Goodreads reviewer, ? ? ? ? ?'A masterful and visionary story, one of the most beautiful SF novels I have read' Goodreads reviewer, ? ? ? ? ?'A landmark in the field of science fiction literature . . . This is a story about loneliness and need for closeness as well' Goodreads reviewer, ? ? ? ? ? 'Ursula K. Le Guin asks, what if gender were not fixed, but serially changeable? . . . The Left Hand of Darkness is a book about journeys, both literal and metaphorical. It is that rare and precious thing: an original and mind-opening book' Goodreads reviewer, ? ? ? ? ?

One of the very best must-read novels of all time - with a new introduction by Roddy Doyle'A well told tale signifying a good deal; one to be read again and again' THE TIMES'The book I wish I had written ... It's so far away from my own imagination, I'd love to sit at my desk one day and discover that I could think and write like Ursula Le Guin' Roddy Doyle'Le Guin is a writer of phenomenal power' OBSERVER'There was a wall. It did not look important - even a child could climb it. But the idea was real. Like all walls it was ambiguous, two-faced. What was inside it and what was outside it depended upon which side of it you were on...'Shevek is brilliant scientist who is attempting to find a new theory of time - but there are those who are jealous of his work, and will do anything to block him. So he leaves his homeland, hoping to find a place of more liberty and tolerance. Initially feted, Shevek soon finds himself being used as a pawn in a deadly political game.With powerful themes of freedom, society and the natural world's influence on competition and co-operation, THE DISPOSSESSED is a true classic of the 20th century.

'The pages sparkle with lines that make a reader glance up, searching for an available ear with which to share them' NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEWFrom acclaimed author Ursula K. Le Guin, a collection of thoughts-always adroit, often acerbic-on aging, belief, the state of literature, and the state of the nation.Ursula K. Le Guin on the absurdity of denying your age: 'If I'm ninety and believe I'm forty-five, I'm headed for a very bad time trying to get out of the bathtub.'On cultural perceptions of fantasy: 'The direction of escape is toward freedom. So what is "escapism" an accusation of?'On breakfast: 'Eating an egg from the shell takes not only practice, but resolution, even courage, possibly willingness to commit crime.'

In SEAROAD Le Guin explores the dreams and sorrows of the inhabitants of Klatsand, Oregon, a beach town where ordinary people bring their dreams and sorrows for a weekend or the rest of their lives, and sometimes learn to read what the sea writes on the sand. It is the story of a particular place that could be any place, and of a people so distinctly drawn they could be any of us.Searoad is a sandy track that runs between the town of Klatsand and the Pacific Ocean. Here you can meet the people who live in the little town and the people who come to stay for a night or a week's vacation in one of the motels-Hanna's Hideaway, the White Gull, and the Ship Ahoy. If you turn inland you might come to Lily Herne's little house on Hemlock Street, where she brought up her illegitimate daughter, or you might find your way to Bill Weisler's pottery above the creek, or you might get a good lunch at the Dancing Sand Dab.If you went there in 1898 you might not find much but a few muddy streets, a lot of spruce trees, and a herd of elk; but then they built the Exposition Hotel, in 1906, where young Jane Herne fell in love with the manager, for good or ill. And all through the twentieth century you'll find a Hambleton running Hambleton's Market, on Main. If you follow Searoad north you'll come to Breton Head, where Virginia Herne lives now. South, you'll pass the Inman house on the way toward Wreck Point. But if you turn west from Searoad across the dunes you'll find only the long, long beach at the continent's edge, the beginning of the sea...

Ursula Le Guin - klassik sovremennoj fantastiki i zvezda mirovoj literatury, laureat mnozhestva prestizhnykh premij (v tom chisle devjatikratnaja obladatelnitsa "Khjugo" i shestikratnaja "Nebjuly"), avtor "Zemnomorja" i "Khajnskogo tsikla". Odin iz stolpov tak nazyvaemoj mjagkoj, gumanitarnoj fantastiki, Le Guin udeljala bolshoe vnimanie voprosam sotsiologii i psikhologii, mezhkulturnym konfliktam i antropologii. I pozhaluj, samym lichnym, gluboko vynoshennym ee proektom byl tsikl proizvedenij o tsentralnoevropejskoj strane Orsinii s ee vysokogornoj stolitsej i drevnimi lesami, rokovymi strastjami i mnogovekovoj mifologiej; na karte vy Orsiniju ne najdete, no sozdannyj voobrazheniem klassika mir neverojatno realen - kazhdoj svoej pjadju, kazhdym epizodom vymyshlennoj, no takoj znakomoj istorii. Kniga "Vsjo ob Orsinii", sostavlennaja Le Guin nezadolgo do smerti, vkljuchaet roman "Malafrena", sbornik "Rasskazy ob Orsinii" i rjad dopolnitelnykh materialov - narodnye pesni provintsii Montajna, pozdnie rasskazy, podrobnoe predislovie. Chast tekstov publikuetsja po-russki vpervye ili v novykh perevodakh, ostalnye - v novoj redaktsii.

"Hvordan kan man skelne myte fra kendsgerning på disse verdener så mange år væk? Planeter uden navne, som af deres beboere blot bliver kaldt Verden. Planeter uden historie, hvor fortiden er mytologisk, og en tilbagevendende opdagelsesrejsende erfarer, at hans egne handlinger kun få år tidligere er blevet til en guds værk." Rocannons Verden er Ursula K. Le Guins første roman, der samtidig etablerer det hainiske univers: et enormt litterært laboratorium, hvori hun med stor nysgerrighed, poesi og kærlighed udforsker forskellige måder at være menneske og skabe samfund på. Her tager Le Guin os med til en fjern og teknologisk tilbagestående planet, som etnologen Rocannon rejser til efter et møde med en mystisk fyrstinde. Inden længe hvirvles han ind i en intergalaktisk konflikt side om side med de indfødte mod en magt, der ikke kun truer deres verden, men også hans egen. Udover Rocannons Verden udgiver vi på Forlaget Feberdrøm Eksilplaneten og Illusionernes By – en trilogi fra det hainiske univers.

”Der er seksten voksne kvinder for hver voksen mand. En ud af seks undfangelser, eller deromkring, er af hankøn, men et stort antal ulevedygtige drengefostre og komplikationsfyldte drengefødsler trækker tallet ned på én ud af seksten ved pubertetsalderen. Mine forfædre må virkelig have moret sig, da de legede med disse menneskers kromosomer. Jeg føler mig skyldig, selvom det er en million år siden.” På planeten Seggri er kvinderne i overtal og styrer samfundet, mens mændene lever afsondret på slotte – beundret som sportsstjerner og brugt til avl. Ubalancen er ikke tilfældig, men resultatet af et genetisk eksperiment, udført af en ældgammel civilisation, som nu vender til bage for at se, hvad deres indgreb har medført. Gennemrapporter, vidnesbyrd og fortællinger fremstiller Ursula K. Le Guin i Spørgsmålet om Planeten Seggri et matriarkalsk samfund – en provokerende og visionær udforskning af køn, kultur og magt.

A manual for investigating the depth, breadth and importance of contemporary fiction by Ursula K. Le Guin, Words Are My Matter collects one of our foremost literary intellectual's best writing on literature

When Ursula K. Le Guin started writing a new novel, she would begin by drawing a map. The Word for World is the first publication focusing on maps by the celebrated author, publishing many for the first time together with writing from a variety of perspectives to enquire into the relationship between the world and its representation through creative dialogue with her fictions. Her maps offer starting points to reflect on the roles of architecture and placemaking in the creative process, worldbuilding, and paradigms of knowledge, exemplified by the map’s edges and how a map is made. Through poems, stories, essays and theory, The Word for World reimagines her maps as carrying technologies of memory.Co-published by Spiral House and AA Publications to coincide with an exhibition of Ursula K. Le Guin’s maps at the Architectural Association, London, opening on 10 October 2025.

THE PURR-FECT GIFT FOR CAT LOVERS: Discover the literary legend's quirky and winsome cat poems, mediations, and drawings Includes the hard-to-find The Art of Bunditsu, plus 30+ other delights from a lifetime of reflection on the mystery and magic of cats "The presence of a cat keeps me in touch with the mystery, the unreasonableness, the beauty, the stubborn wildness of the nonhuman world." In her life as in her art, Ursula K. Le Guin was fascinated by the feline. This irresistable book about cats gathers poems, mediations, and drawings dedicated to the complicated creature that her captured her imagination. Here are: The Art of Bunditsu, Le Guin's hard-to-find "tabbist" meditation on the arranging of cats26 cat poems, many illustrated by Le Guin herselfThe Historic First Issue of Le Guin's one-of-a-kind cat comic book, Supermouse Comix Cat Correspondence: letters between Le Guin's cat and those of her daughter detailing the Five Deliberations that cats spend their lives studyingCat Tai Chi, as depicted in a charming series of drawingsA first-of-its-kind collection from a science fiction legend, this delightful purr-purri is a gift for cat lovers and Le Guin fans

Ursula K. Le Guin's most poetic novel unfolds in 13 interconnected stories about women and the lives of artists in a small coastal town in Oregon One of Ursula K. Le Guin's most realistic novels, Searoad: Chronicles of Klatsand, which was first published in 1991, is also among her most inventive. Cast as a series of interconnected stories set in a small vacation town on the Oregon coast, it offers vivid and powerfully evocative portraits of the town's residents and the community they have built. Some have deep roots in the village, while others have come for just a weekend: but all are pilgrims subject to inexpressible longings. Le Guin's response to Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own, this unforgettable novel plumbs some of the deepest and most abiding themes in Le Guin's work, especially the relationships between mothers and daughters, the nature of women's work, and the lives of artists.