RIP Ursula K. Le Guin, Fantasy Icon

I’m sure that everyone has heard by this time of the unfortunate passing of prolific fantasy writer Ursula K. Le Guin. She died at age 88 in her Oregon home. No cause of death has been given, but her son says that she had been in poor health for a while. Still, her death was not exactly expected, and it certainly is a blow to the writing community.

Le Guin was the author of the Earthsea series and The Left Hand of Darkness. She’s well-known for the literary depth, political and moral commentary, and feminist sensibility which always weaved their ways into her works. She also published several collections of poetry and short stories, and just last year Le Guin released a book of her essays called No Time to Spare: Thinking About What Matters.

I’ve discussed Le Guin in multiple posts on The Writer’s Scrap Bin. Last week, in fact, I included a quote from her on fantasy/science fiction and the cover for The Left Hand of Darkness in my post “Fantasy and Science Fiction: Underestimated Genres”.

Why wouldn’t I? Ursula K. Le Guin is arguably one of the most, if not the most, influential female science fiction/fantasy writer of the 20th and 21st centuries (thus far). In 2016, The New York Times called her “America’s greatest science fiction writer.”

Her awards don’t discourage that assertion. She was a joint Nebula and Hugo Award Winner, and she is one of the few women to be named a Grand Master of Science Fiction (an honor shared by my favorite science fiction writer, Anne McCaffrey), which is awarded by Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. She also received the National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. She has also influenced many notable writers, including Neil Gaiman of American Gods and Coraline fame.

Following her passing, I think that it’s important for us all to study Le Guin’s works and approach to writing carefully, especially fantasy and science fiction writers. She raised these genres to a level of literary brilliance which people often do not attribute to them. She saw the potential in fantasy and science fiction and utilized that potential to explore the more complex aspects of humanity, including morality, gender relations, sexuality, religion, and politics.

I think that the best way we can honor her memory is to continue her work. I don’t mean that any of us should try and write some follow-up to The Left Hand of Darkness or a new installment in the Earthsea series. Instead, I think we should use our own worlds, imaginations, and unique flair to continue the commentary which she started in hers. Whether we agree with Le Guin’s perspective or not, it’s our responsibility to keep the conversation rolling and to not let fantasy and science fiction remain in the obscurity which is “popular fiction.”

You can learn more about this fantasy and science fiction legend on her website.

If you want a lighter way to remember Le Guin, I suggest checking out the rejection letter she received for The Left Hand of Darkness. Defying a publisher’s or agent’s expectations is one of the quickest ways to brighten a writer in a foul or sorrowful mood.