[83] In 2000 she published The Telling, which would be her final Hainish novel, and the next year released Tales from Earthsea and The Other Wind, the last two Earthsea books. [162] Similarly, Ged helps Tenar in The Tombs of Atuan to value herself and to find choices that she did not see,[163][164] leading her to leave the Tombs with him. "You could order it out of a catalogue," its owner, the writer Ursula K. Le Guin, told me three years ago. The prize is worth US$25,000 and will be awarded annually to "a single book-length work of imaginative fiction." Le Guin recalls his experience as a member of the Portland State faculty starting in the 1950s. > [80], Le Guin returned to the Hainish Cycle in the 1990s after a lengthy hiatus with the publication of a series of short stories, beginning with "The Shobies' Story" in 1990. [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. Dr. [171] Scholar Warren Rochelle stated that it was "neither a matriarchy nor a patriarchy: men and women just are". . Ursula K. Le Guin, the award-winning science fiction and fantasy writer who explored feminist themes and was best known for her . Again, pure fantasy. [129], Several of Le Guin's works have featured stylistic or structural features that were unusual or subversive. [15], Le Guin's fellow authors also praised her writing. [167] The Dispossessed is an anarchist utopian novel, which according to Le Guin drew from pacifist anarchists, including Peter Kropotkin, as well as from the counterculture of the 1960s and 1970s. [6] The New York Times described her as using "a lean but lyrical style" to explore issues of moral relevance. Copyright, Special Collections & University Archives. She was 88-years-old. Ursula K. Le Guin, the immensely popular author who brought literary depth and a tough-minded feminine sensibility to science fiction and fantasy with books like The Left Hand Of Darkness and the . PERSONAL: Surname pronounced "luh-gwin" born October 21, 1929, in Berkeley, CA; daughter of Alfred L. (an anthropologist) and Theodora Covel Brown (a writer; maiden name, Kracaw) Kroeber; married Charles Alfred Le Guin (an historian), December 22, 1953; children: Elisabeth, Caroline, Theodore. But in a field largely dominated by mimics and gimmicks, Le. [39][40][43][233] Her final publications included the non-fiction collections Dreams Must Explain Themselves and Ursula K Le Guin: Conversations on Writing, both released after her death. 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. Become a . [6][166] Critics have paid particular attention to The Dispossessed and Always Coming Home,[166] although Le Guin explores related themes in a number of her works,[166] such as in "The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas". Carmina Burana | Portland State University PSU Currently Carmina Burana Carmina Burana Monday, February 27, 2023 - 7:30 PM - 9:30 PM iCalendar Google Calendar Outlook Outlook Online Yahoo! 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. Charles worked on his doctorate in Georgia and Idaho. > I think Harvey Young outlived them all I know, much as I admired the others, he was one of the sweetest men I ever knew, the sort of professor I would most like to have been. He compared the universitys present graduate stipends with the support available when he was at Emory: In 1950 I had a scholarship of $750 dollars a term, which was immediately returned to cover my tuition. [12] The Kroeber family had a number of visitors, including well-known academics such as Robert Oppenheimer; Le Guin would later use Oppenheimer as the model for Shevek, the physicist protagonist of The Dispossessed. In addition to myths and legends, she read such volumes as The Leaves of the Golden Bough by Lady Frazer, a children's book adapted from The Golden Bough, a study of myth and religion by her husband James George Frazer. Charles Le Guin, Ph.D. 1956, has written from Portland, Oregon. [53] This was in marked contrast to the structure of (primarily male-authored) traditional science fiction, which was straightforward and linear. Le Guin was born in Berkeley, California, to author Theodora Kroeber and anthropologist Alfred Louis Kroeber. Dr. Charles A. [186] Praise for Le Guin frequently focused on the social and political themes her work explored,[187] and for her prose; literary critic Harold Bloom described Le Guin as an "exquisite stylist", saying that in her writing, "Every word was exactly in place and every sentence or line had resonance". Le Guin's first novel was "Rocannon's World" in 1966 but she gained fame three years later with "The Left Hand of Darkness," which won the Hugo and Nebula awards top science fiction prizes . [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. [165], Alternative social and political systems are a recurring theme in Le Guin's writing. In this interview with Heather O. Petrocelli on May 16, 2017, Dr. Some portions of the interview have been edited for relevance to PSU history. [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. Cadden, Michael. 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. Accessibility Statement 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. Federal Tax ID 93-0391599. [18] While her husband finished his doctorate at Emory University in Georgia, and later at the University of Idaho, Le Guin taught French and worked as a secretary until the birth of her daughter Elisabeth in 1957. [39][40] Between 1951 and 1961 she also wrote five novels, all set in Orsinia, which were rejected by publishers on the grounds that they were inaccessible. Queen Ursula, photo . I retired in 1995, finished a book with two colleagues (In The Balance: Themes in Global History, 1998), and have since devoted myself mainly to reading any and everything and gardening. [8][10][11], Le Guin had three older brothers: Karl, who became a literary scholar, Theodore, and Clifton. January 24, 2018. He returned again in 1959, eventually becoming Vice President for Business and Finance for Portland State College. https://www.ursulakleguin.com/. [142], Le Guin responded to these critiques in her subsequent writing. Throughout her career, she broke barriers for women writers while. Worm Ouroboros. [176] Set in the Hainish universe, the five stories together examine revolution and reconstruction in a slave-owning society. Le Guin attended public schools in Berkeley, graduated from Radcliffe College, earned a Masters degree at Columbia University, and began pursuing a doctorate in French and Italian Renaissance literature. Nonetheless, the misogyny and hierarchy present in the authoritarian society of Urras is absent among the anarchists, who base their social structure on cooperation and individual liberty. "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. [228][229] The opera was composed by Stephen A. Taylor;[228] the libretto has been attributed both to Kate Gale[230] and to Marcia Johnson. PSU Oral Histories. 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. [33][34], In December 2009, Le Guin resigned from the Authors Guild in protest over its endorsement of Google's book digitization project. Her first major work of science fiction, The Left Hand of Darkness, is considered epoch-making for its radical investigation of gender roles and its moral and literary complexity. [5] Her final publications included the non-fiction collections Dreams Must Explain Themselves and Ursula K Le Guin: Conversations on Writing, and the poetry volume So Far So Good: Final Poems 20142018, all of which were released after her death. This digital access copy is made available as streaming media for personal, educational, and non-commercial use within the parameters of 'fair use' as defined under U.S. "[57] Her 1985 book Always Coming Home, described as "her great experiment", included a story told from the perspective of a young protagonist, but also included poems, rough drawings of plants and animals, myths, and anthropological reports from the matriarchal society of the Kesh, a fictional people living in the Napa valley after a catastrophic global flood. Her speech received widespread media attention within and outside the US, and was broadcast twice by National Public Radio. For more information, please contact Special Collections at Portland State University Library at: specialcollections@pdx.edu or (503) 725-9883. 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. Le Guin published eleven books of poetry, five collections of essays and literary criticism, thirteen books for children, four works of translation, several plays and screenplays, the libretto for an opera, twenty-three novels, and twelve volumes of short storiesfiction in all its various forms, including realistic fiction. . [87][88][89] Other collections included Changing Planes, also released in 2002, while the anthologies included The Unreal and the Real (2012),[40] and The Hainish Novels and Stories, a two-volume set of works from the Hainish universe released by the Library of America. Le Guin recalls his experience as a member of the Portland State faculty starting in the 1950s. [211] The notion that names can exert power is a theme in the Earthsea series; critics have suggested that this inspired Hayao Miyazaki's use of the idea in his 2001 film Spirited Away. [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. Le Guin was positive about the aesthetic of the film, writing that "much of it was beautiful", but was critical of the film's moral sense and its use of physical violence, and particularly the use of a villain whose death provided the film's resolution. [40][94][95], Once I learned to read, I read everything. [6][7] Author Margaret Atwood hailed Le Guin's "sane, smart, crafty and lyrical voice", and wrote that social injustice was a powerful motivation through Le Guin's life. A project of the Oregon Historical Society, 2020 Portland State University and the Oregon Historical Society, The Oregon Historical Society is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. 1929), American writer, essayist, poet and author of novels, children's books and short stories. [136] The story is set on the fictional planet of Gethen, whose inhabitants are ambisexual humans with no fixed gender identity, who adopt female or male sexual characteristics for brief periods of their sexual cycle. The stamp was designed by Donato Gionacola. Why in the future would we assume they are? [99] Several scholars state that the influence of mythology, which Le Guin enjoyed reading as a child, is also visible in much of her work: for example, the short story "The Dowry of Angyar" is described as a retelling of a Norse myth. She served on the editorial boards of the journals Paradoxa and Science Fiction Studies, in addition to writing literary criticism herself. A transcript of this interview is available for download. Dr. Charles A. [4] She won the Hugo Award again in 1973 for The Word for World is Forest. The Lathe of Heaven is set in near-future Portland, and "The New Atlantis" envisions Oregon after an environmental collapse. > RETROSPEC [6], The Dispossessed, set on the twin planets of Urras and Anarres, features a planned anarchist society depicted as an "ambiguous utopia". [170], Always Coming Home, set in California in the distant future, examines a warlike society, resembling contemporary American society, from the perspective of the Kesh, its pacifist neighbors. [111][112] Many of Le Guin's protagonists, including in The Lathe of Heaven, embody the Taoist ideal of leaving things alone. Mythology and legend were an integral part of the Kroebers family life, and Le Guin remembers that she "was brought up to think and to question and to enjoy.". [196][197][198] In 2013, she was given the Eaton Award by the University of California, Riverside, for lifetime achievement in science fiction. Zaneta graduated with a BS in Graphic Design from Portland State University in 2016, and a BFA in Communication Design from PNCA in 2010. He and Thomas E. Mullen (Ph.D. 1959) have remained good friends. Le Guin is Professor Emeritus of History at Portland State University, where he taught for over thirty-five years. [126] Le Guin suggested the term "social science fiction" for some of her writing, while pointing out that many of her stories were not science fiction at all. Le Guin recounts, I had had courses from him and he was in Paris when I was there on my Fulbright: indeed, he and Blair were at my wedding there. (Charles and his wife Ursula still have the samovar and tea cups that the Majors gave them as wedding presents. It was also created as a gift to Ursula K. Le Guin for her collection. [6], The accolades Le Guin has received include numerous annual awards for individual works. Their second child came in 1958 and Charles began working at Portland State University, so the family moved to Portland, Oregon. The society of the Kesh has been identified by scholars as a feminist utopia, which Le Guin uses to explore the role of technology. He is an emeritus member of the Alumni Board and a founding member of the Friends of the Library. [40][69][70] She also published Very Far Away from Anywhere Else, a realistic novel for adolescents,[71] as well as the collection Orsinian Tales and the novel Malafrena in 1976 and 1979, respectively. Le Guin died suddenly and peacefully Monday at her home in Portland, Oregon, after several weeks of health concerns, her son, Theo Downes-Le Guin said Tuesday. [49], Le Guin's next two books brought her sudden and widespread critical acclaim. [191] For her novels alone she won five Locus Awards, four Nebula Awards, two Hugo Awards, and one World Fantasy Award, and won each of those awards in short fiction categories as well. Wim Wiewel was interviewed on August 2, 2017, by Chris Broderick, at Portland State University. I adored Kipling's Jungle Book. I read the story "Alpha Ralpha Boulevard", and it just made me go, "Wow! The writer Ursula K Le Guin, who has died aged 88, presided over American science fiction for nearly half a century. 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 play opened May 2, 2013, and ran until June 16, 2013, in Portland, Oregon. [55][56] A Wizard of Earthsea and The Left Hand of Darkness have been described by critic Harold Bloom as Le Guin's masterpieces. 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. "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas," one of Le Guin's best known and frequently anthologized stories, is a Jamesian fable that takes its name from the road sign for Salem, Oregon, read backwards. Their summer retreat, an old ranch named "Kishamish" in the hills of Napa Valley, was a gathering place for scientists, writers, students, and California Indians. The Oregon History Wayfinder is an interactive map that identifies significant places, people, and events in Oregon history. [55][207][208] The Earthsea books are cited as having a wide impact, including outside the field of literature. [62] Also set in the Hainish universe, the story explored anarchism and utopianism. He joined the faculty of Portland State College in 1959, when most of the campus classrooms, offices, and facilities were still located in the former Lincoln High School Building in downtown Portland, and the college's first new building, Cramer Hall, was still only partially built. She argued that the term "soft science fiction" was divisive, and implied a narrow view of what constitutes valid science fiction. 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 . [12][13] The family had a large book collection, and the siblings all became interested in reading while they were young. [55] According to scholar Donna White, Le Guin was a "major voice in American letters", whose writing was the subject of many volumes of literary critique, more than two hundred scholarly articles, and a number of dissertations. Remembering Portland State 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. Le Guin, Charles and Petrocelli, Heather Oriana, "Interview with Charles Le Guin" (2017). She later said that science fiction did not have much impact on her until she read the works of Theodore Sturgeon and Cordwainer Smith, and that she had sneered at the genre as a child. But in a field largely dominated by mimics and gimmicks, Le Guin, the science... Ph.D. 1959 ) have remained good friends, California, to author Theodora Kroeber and anthropologist Alfred Kroeber! His doctorate in Georgia and Idaho 's next two books brought her sudden and widespread acclaim... Theodora Kroeber and anthropologist Alfred Louis Kroeber widespread media attention within and outside the US, implied... 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