Ursula K. Le Guin

@ursulakleguin.com

Ursula K. Le Guin (1929-2018) was a celebrated author of novels, children’s books, poetry and essays. This account is managed by her estate. https://www.ursulakleguin.com/

Coming September 1st: A new edition of Changing Planes! This is part of Harper Perennial's limited Olive Editions line (which included The Wind's Twelve Quarters in 2022). This year's Olive selections are all science fiction and fantasy, and are illustrated by Ibrahim Rayintakath.

The cover of Changing Planes is illustrated in vertical stripes in shapes of purple and a sort of greenish white. In the middle, an oval shaped like an airplane window looks out onto the silhouette of a mountain, with a stylized sunset in the sky behind it. Three stars appear to zoom around the image, trailing yellow tails.

This extremely early work of Ursula’s appeared in the anthology First Words: Earliest Writing from Contemporary Favorite Writers, edited by Paul Mandelbaum and published by Algonquin in 1993. (“Krakie” was a nickname for Ursula’s mother.)

To Krakie
by Ursula Kroeber
(1934, age 4)

Bears like honey,
I do too.
I like you, honey,
I sure do.

In 2022-2023, Theo Downes-Le Guin conducted several interviews with Martha Ullman West. She was nationally respected dance critic and author, and a friend of Ursula's for half a century, who died on July 5. This week, in honor of Martha, In Your Spare Time presents some of those conversations.

In Your Spare Time: From the Blog of Ursula K. Le Guin: Special episode: Martha Ullman West

This week we bring you something different: An interview with Martha Ullman West, nationally respected dance critic and author, and a friend of Ursula's for a half century, who died on July 5. The int...

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If you're in Seattle, don't miss this event at Elliott Bay Book Company on Thursday (7/16): Theo Downes-Le Guin will be in conversation with author and editor Nisi Shawl about The Curve of the World, Vonda N. McIntyre's final novel, which was recently published by Aqueduct Press.

An event graphic for the conversation between Nisi Shawl and Theo Downes-Le Guin that takes place at 7 pm Thursday, July 16th, at Elliott Bay Book Company.Two copies of A Winter Solstice Ritual from the Pacific Northwest by Ursula K. Le Guin and Vonda N. McIntyre: one darker and photocopied, one the pale blue earlier printing.

This week on In Your Spare Time, Ursula's daughter Caroline Le Guin reads post 13, "The Horsies Upstairs," in which Ursula considers "how incredibly much we learn between our birthday and last day—from where the horsies live to the origin of the stars."

In Your Spare Time: From the Blog of Ursula K. Le Guin: Caroline Le Guin reads "The Horsies Upstairs"

This week, Caroline Le Guin reads Post 13, "The Horsies Upstairs," which Ursula posted in January of 2011. The original post can be read at  

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On this week's episode of In Your Spare Time, artist and family friend Ursula Barton reads post 12, "A Riff on the Harper Contract." In this post, "Trespassers W." has some things to explain to HarperCollins owner Rupert Murdoch regarding a change in the publisher's contract language.

In Your Spare Time: From the Blog of Ursula K. Le Guin: Ursula Barton reads "A Riff on the Harper Contract"

Ursula Barton reads Post 12, "A Riff on the Harper Contract," which Ursula K. Le Guin posted on January 18, 2011. The original post can be read at Ursula Barton's website is

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This week on In Your Spare Time, author @rebeccacampbell.bsky.social reads post 11, "The Tree," from January of 2011. This post is Ursula's lovely eulogy for a Christmas tree: "A real Christmas tree, a cut tree, is a ritual sacrifice. Better not to deny the fact, but to accept and ponder it."

In Your Spare Time: From the Blog of Ursula K. Le Guin: Rebecca Campbell reads "The Tree"

This week, Rebecca Campbell reads Post 11, "The Tree," which Ursula posted in January of 2011. The original post can be read at Rebecca Campbell's website is

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This year is the 50th anniversary of the standalone edition of The Word for World is Forest. This Berkley Medallion edition is from December 1976. Cover art by Richard Powers.

The cover for the 1976 edition of The Word for World is Forest is all shades of green: The author's name is across the top in white, under which smaller text says "author of The Left Hand of Darkness." The book title is a vivid yellow, and under that text says "the mind-stunning science fiction masterpiece." The illustration shows a female fiture with long hair, nude, behind a lot of waving green growths that emanate from a round planet-like shape at the lower right. There are bits of red and yellow mixed in, giving the whole thing a cellular vibe. In the foreground, at the bottom, are green figures, not quite human-like.

LOA’s Stefanie Peters is on the latest episode of In Your Spare Time, a podcast from the estate of @ursulakleguin.com! Hear her read “On Prospero’s Island”, a blog by Le Guin on gender and the 2010 film version of Shakespeare’s The Tempest starring Helen Mirren. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s...

Stefanie Peters reads "On Prospero's Island"

Podcast Episode · In Your Spare Time: From the Blog of Ursula K. Le Guin · June 17 · 17m

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This week on In Your Spare Time, Molly Gloss reads post 8, "The Sissy Strikes Back," from November 2010. "I’ve lost faith in the saying 'You’re only as old as you think you are' ever since I got old," Ursula begins in this post about aging, and who exactly it's "for."

In Your Spare Time: From the Blog of Ursula K. Le Guin: Molly Gloss reads "The Sissy Strikes Back"

This week, Molly Gloss reads Post 8, "The Sissy Strikes Back," which Ursula posted in November of 2010. The original post can be read at Molly Gloss's website is  

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