[57] The book was influenced by Le Guin's anger over the Vietnam War, and explored themes of colonialism and militarism:[58][59] Le Guin later described it as the "most overt political statement" she had made in a fictional work. She received numerous accolades, including eight Hugos, six Nebulas, and twenty-two Locus Awards, and in 2003 became the second woman honored as a Grand Master of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. The play opened May 2, 2013, and ran until June 16, 2013, in Portland, Oregon. The Le Guins have lived in Portland for more than four . [81] These stories included "Coming of Age in Karhide" (1995), which explored growing into adulthood and was set on the same planet as The Left Hand of Darkness. [53], Her writing was recognized by the popular media and by commentators. The PSU community connected faculty and students to cultural as well as academic resources in Portland including music, theater, and the arts, and was vitally involved in political and creative movements. [17] Le Guin undertook graduate studies at Columbia University, and earned a Master of Arts degree in French in 1952. Ursula K. Le Guin Beyond Genre: Fiction for Children and Adults. Again, pure fantasy. On their return to the United States, she abandoned her graduate studies to raise a family; the Le Guins eventually settled in Portland, where Charles Le Guin taught history at Portland State . Le Guin was born in 1929, to Theodora and Alfred Kroeber. [195] The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America named her its 20th Grand Master in 2003: she was the second, and as of 2019[update] one of only six, women to receive that honor. In this interview, former Oregon University System Vice-Chancellor and Portland State University administrator Bill Lemman discusses his career in higher education in Oregon with Clarence Hein. [18] She would continue writing and publishing for nearly 60 years. He and Thomas E. Mullen (Ph.D. 1959) have remained good friends. Ursula Le Guin. Chuck Becker discusses the department's founding years at Vanport and its differentiation from the Athletics program, for which he also served as a football coach. Ursula at Potlatch 16, photo by Jim Culp. Copyright by Marian Wood Kolisch, Courtesy Oregon Hist. The term "magic realism" had not yet found currency, and her stories were perhaps uncategorizable. Wim Wiewel was interviewed on August 2, 2017, by Chris Broderick, at Portland State University. [14][100], The discipline of cultural anthropology had a powerful influence on Le Guin's writing. Birthday: October 21, 1929 ( Libra) Born In: Berkeley, California, United States 18 4 Novelists #116 Literary Critics #2 Science Fiction Writers #12 Quick Facts Also Known As: Ursula Kroeber Le Guin Died At Age: 88 Family: Spouse/Ex-: Charles Le Guin (m. 1953) father: A. L. Kroeber mother: Theodora Kroeber [2][119] In 1976, literature scholar George Slusser criticized the "silly publication classification designating the original series as 'children's literature'",[120] while in Barbara Bucknall's opinion Le Guin "can be read, like Tolkien, by ten-year-olds and by adults. [81] In the same year she published the story suite Four Ways to Forgiveness, and followed it up with "Old Music and the Slave Women", a fifth, connected, story in 1999. Her father was the University of California's. Though the latter two were set in the fictional country of Orsinia, the stories were realistic fiction rather than fantasy or science fiction. [176] Set in the Hainish universe, the five stories together examine revolution and reconstruction in a slave-owning society. Dr. [32][85] Her third Earthsea novel, The Farthest Shore, won the 1973 National Book Award for Young People's Literature,[192] and she was a finalist for ten Mythopoeic Awards, nine in Fantasy and one for Scholarship. She expressed a deep interest in Taoism and Buddhism, saying that Taoism gave her a "handle on how to look at life" during her adolescent years. | [115] In the Earthsea universe, it is not the dark powers, but the characters' misunderstanding of the balance of life, that is depicted as evil,[116] in contrast to conventional Western stories in which good and evil are in constant conflict. [203][204] The American Academy of Arts and Letters made her a member in 2017. In a story so conceived, the moral complexity proper to the modern novel need not be sacrificed, nor is there any built-in dead end; thought and intuition can move freely within bounds set only by the terms of the experiment, which may be very large indeed. [114] Another prominent Taoist idea is the reconciliation of opposites such as light and dark, or good and evil. [18] Soon after, she began working towards a PhD, and won a Fulbright grant to continue her studies in France from 1953 to 1954. PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) Ursula K. Le Guin, the award-winning science fiction and fantasy writer who explored feminist themes and was best known for her Earthsea books, has died at 88. Jack Schendel, Dean Emeritus of the School of Health and Human Performance, describes the mission and achievements of the School in providing specialized professional training for students in various fields of health education, and the circumstances leading to the closure of the School in 1992. It is far too rationalist and simplistic to satisfy the imaginative mind, whether the writer's or the reader's. Reviewers pointed to its usage of masculine gender pronouns to describe its androgynous characters,[53] the lack of androgynous characters portrayed in stereotypical feminine roles,[141] and the portrayal of heterosexuality as the norm on Gethen. Scholar Charlotte Spivack described it as representing a shift in Le Guin's science fiction towards discussing political ideas. . . [40][94] Her best-known works include the six volumes of the Earthsea series, and the many novels of the Hainish Cycle. [154][123] A Wizard of Earthsea is frequently described as a Bildungsroman,[155][156] in which Ged's coming of age is intertwined with the physical journey he undertakes through the novel. The University Archives has teamed with the Retirement Association of Portland State (RAPS) and other campus stakeholders in an ongoing effort to capture the first-person insight of those instrumental to the development and success of Portland State. Le Guin's mother, Theodora Kroeber (1897-1979; born Theodora Covel Kracaw), had a graduate degree in psychology. A member of the class of 1947 of Berkeley High School, Le Guin was the daughter of anthropologists Alfred L. Kroeber and Theodora Quinn Kroeber. The University Archives has teamed with the Retirement Association of Portland State (RAPS) and other campus stakeholders in an ongoing effort to capture the first-person insight of those instrumental to the development and success of Portland State. The Los Angeles Times commented in 2009 that after the death of Arthur C. Clarke, Le Guin was "arguably the most acclaimed science fiction writer on the planet", and went on to describe her as a "pioneer" of literature for young people. This interview originally appeared in Issue 14 of Structo Magazine. [72] The Language of the Night, a collection of essays, was released in 1979,[73] and Le Guin also published Wild Angels, a volume of poetry, in 1975. Le Guin often subverted typical speculative fiction tropes, such as through her use of dark-skinned protagonists in Earthsea, and also used unusual stylistic or structural devices in books such as the experimental work Always Coming Home (1985). [33][96] Authors Le Guin describes as influential include Victor Hugo, William Wordsworth, Charles Dickens, Boris Pasternak, and Philip K. Dick. Portland State University, Privacy Her first professional publication was the short story "April in Paris" in 1962, while her first published novel was Rocannon's World, released by Ace Books in 1966. "It was unexpected at that moment," Downes-Le Guin said. Spivak, Charlotte. . This interview was recorded at the Portland State University Library on February 21, 2019. In this interview with Heather O. Petrocelli on May 16, 2017, Dr. Among the things that amazes me most, he writes, is the size of the department: from 1950-56, the period when I was doing my degree, I can recall only ten faculty: Mathews, Major, Posey (shared with Agnes Scott as I recall), Duncan, Rabun, Cuttino, Benjamin, McLean, Wiley, and Young. The inaugural shortlist was announced on July 28, 2022. The stamp features a portrait of the author taken from a 2006 photograph against a background image inspired by her book The Left Hand of Darkness. Le Guin is Professor Emeritus of History at Portland State University, where he taught for over thirty-five years. [3] Le Guin's transgression of conventional boundaries of genre led to literary criticism of Le Guin becoming "Balkanized", particularly between scholars of children's literature and speculative fiction. Still, her name is most often associated with the speculative works of the imagination that first introduced her to readers. [201] A collection of Le Guin's works was published by the Library of America in 2016, an honor only rarely given to living writers. [225] The third and fourth Earthsea books were used as the basis of Tales from Earthsea, released in 2006. She intentionally used feminine pronouns for all sexually latent Gethenians in her 1995 short story "Coming of Age in Karhide", and in a later reprinting of "Winter's King", which was first published in 1969. Dr. Michael Reardon discusses his career at Portland State from his start as an Assistant Professor in the Department of History in 1964 through his many administrative roles to his eventual service as Interim President of the University from 2007 to 2008. Dr. [85], Other awards and accolades have recognized Le Guin's contributions to speculative fiction. PSU Oral Histories Portland State University Oral History: Interview with Charles Le Guin Portland State University 16.4K subscribers Subscribe 1.2K views 3 years ago Dr. Charles A. [55][207][208] The Earthsea books are cited as having a wide impact, including outside the field of literature. The world-famous author was heralded as a major female voice in science fiction, but her work transcended the genre. [142] Le Guin's portrayal of gender in Earthsea was also described as perpetuating the notion of a male-dominated world; according to the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, "Le Guin saw men as the actors and doers in the [world], while women remain the still centre, the well from which they drink". At this point in her life, Le Guin was working as a history teacher at Portland State University (White, 2016). Le Guin is notable for her willingness to revisit earlier works in response to her own maturing thought and especially her growing feminism. Ursula K. Le Guin, who beginning in the 1960s upended the male-dominated genres of fantasy and science fiction, crafting novels that grappled with issues of gender inequality, racism and . Brian Attebery, writing in the Dictionary of Literary Biography, describes Le Guins fiction as "extraordinarily riskyfull of hypotheses about morality, love, society, and ways of enriching life, expressed in the symbolic language found in myth, dream, or poetry.". 221", "Le Guin accuses Authors Guild of 'deal with the devil', "My letter of resignation from the Authors Guild", "Ursula K Le Guin launches broadside on Amazon's 'sell it fast, sell it cheap' policy", "Writers unite in campaign against 'thuggish' Amazon", "Ursula K. Le Guin: The Complete Orsinia", "Bright the Hawk's Flight on the Empty Sky: Ursula K. Le Guin", "The Dance of Nonviolent Subversion in Le Guin's Hainish Cycle", "Review: The Works of Ursula K. Le Guin, Sublime World Builder", "A Definitive Collection that Defies Definition: Le Guin's Hainish Novels & Stories", "A new island of stability: Ursula Le Guin's Annals of the Western Shore", "Dreams Must Explain Themselves by Ursula K Le Guin review writing and the feminist fellowship", "A Wizard of Earthsea: Reader's Guide About the Author", "Ursula K. Le Guin: Still Battling the Powers That Be", "Ursula K. Le Guin's work still resonates with readers", "Chronicles of Earthsea: Edited Transcript of Le Guin's Online Q&A", "Ten Authors on the 'Hard' vs. 'Soft' Science Fiction Debate", "Gender and glaciers: Ursula Le Guin's The Left Hand of Darkness", "Postmodern Anarchism in the Novels of Ursula K. Le Guin", "Farsickness, Homesickness in The Found and the Lost by Ursula K. Le Guin", "Ursula Le Guin Has Earned a Rare Honor. "There are principles involved, above all the whole concept of copyright; and these you have seen fit to abandon to a corporation, on their terms, without a struggle. In 1953, as a Fulbright Fellow steaming toward France on the Queen Mary, she met historian Charles Le Guin, also a Fulbright Fellow. She wed historian and fellow Fulbright scholar Charles Le. [214] Bloom followed this up by listing the book in his The Western Canon (1994) as one of the books in his conception of artistic works that have been important and influential in Western culture. Cultural anthropology, Taoism, feminism, and the writings of Carl Jung all had a strong influence on Le Guin's work. ) The year Dr. Her parents were Alfred Kroeber, a prominent and influential American anthropologist, and the writer Theodora Kroeber, widely known for her accounts of Ishi, the last member of the Yahi tribe in California. Le Guin is Professor. Several of Le Guins novels and stories make use of the Oregon landscape. Other authors she enjoyed were Lord Dunsany and Lewis Padgett. Charles Le Guin and Heather Oriana Petrocelli. She was active in the literary and political community of Portland and Oregon, including joining peace vigils at Pioneer Courthouse Square and giving early support for both Fishtrap and Oregon Literary Arts. Dr. [112] Taoist influence is evident in Le Guin's depiction of equilibrium in the world of Earthsea: the archipelago is depicted as being based on a delicate balance, which is disrupted by somebody in each of the first three novels. [40][84] The latter won the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel in 2002. [47] City of Illusions was published as a standalone volume, indicating Le Guin's growing name recognition. Le Guin taught writing workshops from Vermont to Australia, including those at Pacific University in Forest Grove and Portland State University, where she was a frequent teacher at Haystack, and at Fishtrap in Wallowa County. [111][112] Many of Le Guin's protagonists, including in The Lathe of Heaven, embody the Taoist ideal of leaving things alone. [57][101][102][103][104] She described living with her father's friends and acquaintances as giving her the experience of the other. [8][10][11], Le Guin had three older brothers: Karl, who became a literary scholar, Theodore, and Clifton. Critic Harold Bloom placed her in the pantheon of fantasy writers along with J.R.R. [133], A number of Le Guin's writings, including the Earthsea series, challenged the conventions of epic fantasies and myths. He describes his view of Portland State's development from a small college to a large urban university, the professional, social, and cultural environments of the downtown campus, and the founding of pioneering academic programs such as University Studies and the Honors College.The fledgling college was still small in 1959, but Portland State was fertile ground for intellectual collaboration and camaraderie among faculty across academic departments. A USPS Tribute Video to Le Guin can be viewed here on Facebook. [6], The Dispossessed, set on the twin planets of Urras and Anarres, features a planned anarchist society depicted as an "ambiguous utopia". [140] Although The Left Hand of Darkness was seen as a landmark exploration of gender, it also received criticism for not going far enough. 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