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Ursula K. Le Guin @ursulakleguin.com · 15h

“Wells's Worlds” is Ursula's introduction to Selected Stories of H.G. Wells, published by Modern Library in 2004. The introduction also appears in Words Are My Matter.

"I see art as a community enterprise both in place and time, and believe that art that leads to more art is more valuable than sterile excellent." Ursula K. Le Guin, "Wells' Worlds," 2004

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Ursula K. Le Guin @ursulakleguin.com · 28/09/2026

Christopher Caldwell (@seraph76.bsky.social) introduces his collection Call and Response: Stories of the Fantastic, which is shortlisted for the 2026 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction.

youtube.com

Christopher Caldwell introduces Call and Response

YouTube video by Ursula K. Le Guin Foundation

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Reposted by Ursula K. Le Guin

David Naimon @davidnaimon.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Tin House is sending me on a mini-regional tour for the gorgeous reissue of Ursula K Le Guin: Conversations on Writing. Portland-Seattle-Bay Area friends I hope to see you. Come say hi and celebrate Ursula's legacy with me! @tinhouse.bsky.social @ursulakleguin.com @ebbooksellers.bsky.social

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Ursula K. Le Guin @ursulakleguin.com · 25/09/2026

The Guardian called Revolution in the Heart: Stories Inspired by Ursula K. Le Guin "Probably the best original anthology of the year: a must-read." More info: titanbooks.com/72469-revolu...

Revolution in the Heart: Stories Inspired by Ursula K. Le Guin, edited by Jonathan Strahan

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Ursula K. Le Guin @ursulakleguin.com · 24/09/2026

🌟Shortlisted for the 2026 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction🌟 With its haunted shoes and sheep and cats, Bora Chung's novel in ghost stories (translated by @antonhur.com) gently suggests the degree to which humanity’s efforts to control the world are themselves figments and fantasies.

A photo of the book Midnight Timetable, standing on a black shelf next to a glass vase with two pink-orange flowers and some greenery.

"What we can see and hear and touch in this world is very limited. And so perhaps it’s true we don’t know much about the world at all. We like to say there’s nothing new under the sun, but we don’t have the slightest inkling of how many things there are, indeed, under the sun."

from Midnight Timetable by Bora Chung, translated by Anton Hur

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Ursula K. Le Guin @ursulakleguin.com · 22/09/2026

A quick note to say that Pard is doing great, living his best life (though he's had several of those, as appropriate for a cat). He does not look his age, does he?

A black-and-white tuxedo cat sits on a staircase, looking at the camera like he might want to bite it.

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Ursula K. Le Guin @ursulakleguin.com · 21/09/2026

Premee Mohamed (@premeemohamed.com) reads from her story collection One Message Remains, which is shortlisted for the 2026 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction:

youtube.com

Premee Mohamed reads from One Message Remains

YouTube video by Ursula K. Le Guin Foundation

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Ursula K. Le Guin @ursulakleguin.com · 18/09/2026

We'd like your help with something. The one hundredth anniversary of Ursula's birth will take place in 2029. This may seem a long time away, but we’re already starting to think about how to celebrate Ursula’s life and art. We’d love to add your ideas to the mix—there's a brief survey here:

form.jotform.com

Centenary event planning

Please click the link to complete this form.

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Ursula K. Le Guin @ursulakleguin.com · 17/09/2026

🌟Shortlisted for the 2026 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction🌟 In Sunward, @willalex.bsky.social weaves world-expanding comedy with a vision of parental care that encompasses beings built as well as born. In his future, another way of living is possible—though getting to it is never easy.

A copy of Sunward, by William Alexander, stands on a black shelf next to a small glass vase with two orangey-pink flowers.

"Mercury was a messenger god, and you also carry messages across the heavens. That makes this a pilgrimage site for you, too."

'Except I don't worship him. I don't burn offerings of ox entrails in his name. I don't really believe in him.'

You don't need to, Sparkles said. Mercury is still your patron god. Every letter you deliver is an offering."

from Sunward, by William Alexander

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Reposted by Ursula K. Le Guin

Cadwell Turnbull @cadwellturnbull.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

So deeply honored I got to read an entry of Le Guin's blog. Baby-writer me with a copy of The Lathe of Heaven would be in disbelief (like I am currently)...

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Ursula K. Le Guin @ursulakleguin.com · 16/09/2026

This week on In Your Spare Time, @cadwellturnbull.bsky.social reads post 23, "The Middle of What?" from May 2011. "The middle" of the title is the middle class. "But doesn’t a middle need the stuff it’s the middle of — the above, the below, the left, the right, the front, the back?" Ursula writes.

inyoursparetime.libsyn.com

In Your Spare Time: From the Blog of Ursula K. Le Guin: Cadwell Turnbull reads "The Middle of What?"

Cadwell Turnbull reads post 23, "The Middle of What?," from May 25, 2011. You can read the original blog post here: Cadwell Turnbull's website is

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Reposted by Ursula K. Le Guin

Nghi Vo @nghivo.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Whatcha up to in a few hours? I've been looking forward to this one for a bit!

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Ursula K. Le Guin @ursulakleguin.com · 14/09/2026

Tashan Mehta (@tashanmehta.bsky.social) reads from her novel Mad Sisters of Esi, which is shortlisted for the 2026 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction:

youtube.com

Tashan Mehta reads from Mad Sisters of Esi

YouTube video by Ursula K. Le Guin Foundation

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Ursula K. Le Guin @ursulakleguin.com · 10/09/2026

🌟Shortlisted for the 2026 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction🌟 Through three rom-com quoting characters, Audition explores carceral politics & the psychology of violence, & what healing from the harm of those systems might require in a world where embodiment & identity have lost all familiar forms.

A copy of Audition by Pip Adam stands on a black shelf next to a small glass vase holding a pinkish-yellow flower and some greenery with yellowy berries.

A quote from Audition: "It was a seamless balancing act between not wanting to be hurt anymore and being told nothing was hurting them. No one asked questions. But also, after a while there didn't seem to be a right question to ask. What was a question anyway? Everything felt off but that was the nature of things."

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Ursula K. Le Guin @ursulakleguin.com · 09/09/2026

For this week's episode of In Your Spare Time, R.B. Lemberg (@rblemberg.bsky.social) reads "First Contact," a story about a rattlesnake, communication, and ingenuity. As Ursula notes, "The sacred and the comic are not that far apart."

inyoursparetime.libsyn.com

In Your Spare Time: From the Blog of Ursula K. Le Guin: R.B. Lemberg reads "First Contact"

R.B. Lemberg reads post 22, "First Contact," from May of 2011. You can read Ursula's original post here: R.B. Lemberg's website is

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Ursula K. Le Guin @ursulakleguin.com · 08/09/2026

Isaac Fellman (@isaac-fellman.bsky.social) introduces and briefly reads from his novel Notes from a Regicide, which is shortlisted for the 2026 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction

youtube.com

Isaac Fellman introduces Notes from a Regicide

YouTube video by Ursula K. Le Guin Foundation

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Ursula K. Le Guin @ursulakleguin.com · 07/09/2026

The nifty new Olive Edition of Changing Planes is out now from Harper Perennial www.harpercollins.com/pages/olivee...

The new edition of Changing Planes has a cover that suggests the view out of an airplane window. Outside, a mountain peak glows against a sunset (or sunrise). Small stars give the impression of zooming about the cover.

The quote on the back cover of Changing Planes reads, "Some dreams tell us what we wish to believe ... The rarest dream is the dream that tells us what we have not known."

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Ursula K. Le Guin @ursulakleguin.com · 04/09/2026

On September 15th, join Nghi Vo, Karen Joy Fowler, and Brian Attebery for an online event celebrating the publication of Library of America's Complete Earthsea!

eventbrite.com

Exploring Earthsea: Ursula K. Le Guin’s Fantasy Masterpiece

Karen Joy Fowler, Nghi Vo, and Brian Attebery delve into a foundational classic of the fantasy genre.

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Ursula K. Le Guin @ursulakleguin.com · 03/09/2026

🌟Shortlisted for the 2026 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction🌟 Full of hard-won, lived-in hope, Christopher Caldwell's generously told tales take seriously the interconnections of class, race, geography, gender, and sexuality—while making striking imaginative leaps through time.

A small glass vase holding a peachy rose stands next to a copy of Christopher Caldwell's Call and Response: Stories of the Fantastic

“Does that heart’s stone remain as hard? Will the Mother and the brides stand atop high Necropolis’s hill and reunite once more? Does he come? I search the darkening heavens for swallows and their golden throats, else the starling numbers descending down like feathered smoke. But my eyes are old. And does he come? What means always to the dead?” —from Christopher Caldwell's Call and Response (specifically the story "The Calcified Heart of Saint Ignace Battiste")

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Reposted by Ursula K. Le Guin

Nicola Griffith SHE IS HERE out now! @nicolaz.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

I chose this one because it turns out we both loved and used the OED. A lot. I’ve always found its entries a great way to think my way into a subject

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Ursula K. Le Guin @ursulakleguin.com · 02/09/2026

Nicola Griffith (@nicolaz.bsky.social) reads "Beige" for this week's episode of In Your Spare Time. "Beige is the only color I can think of that is used as a fashion sneer," begins Ursula's April 2011 post about the color, about fashion, about definitions, and about making statements.

inyoursparetime.libsyn.com

In Your Spare Time: From the Blog of Ursula K. Le Guin: Nicola Griffith reads "Beige"

Nicola Griffith reads post 21, "Beige," from April 22, 2011. You can read the original blog post here: Nicola Griffith's website is    

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Ursula K. Le Guin @ursulakleguin.com · 31/08/2026

Hiron Ennes (@hironennes.bsky.social) reads from their second novel, The Works of Vermin, which is shortlisted for the 2026 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction. youtu.be/zUu572SLO24

youtu.be

Hiron Ennes reads from "The Works of Vermin"

YouTube video by Ursula K. Le Guin Foundation

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Ursula K. Le Guin @ursulakleguin.com · 31/08/2026

Congratulations to Fred Fordham for receiving the 2026 Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story or Comic! Available in English from Clarion Books and Walker UK, and available or forthcoming in Catalan, French, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, and Turkish.

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Ursula K. Le Guin @ursulakleguin.com · 27/08/2026

🌟Shortlisted for the 2025 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction🌟 Through the perspective of Maw, who was once human but is now something else, Claire North wrestles with capitalism, collective choice, fascism, gender, freedom, art, and the question of how we decide what—and who—matters.

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Ursula K. Le Guin @ursulakleguin.com · 26/08/2026

Ursula's 2011 commentary on the Google Book Settlement continues with this week's episode of In Your Spare Time. Kim Stanley Robinson returns to read and reflect on "Unfacts Concerning the Google (Un)Settlement, Part 2." inyoursparetime.libsyn.com/kim-stanley-...

inyoursparetime.libsyn.com

In Your Spare Time: From the Blog of Ursula K. Le Guin: Kim Stanley Robinson Reads "Unfacts Concerning the Google (Un)Settlement, Part 2"

Kim Stanley Robinson reads post 20, "Unfacts Concerning the Google (Un)Settlement, Part 2," from April 5, 2011. You can read the original blog post here:  

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Ursula K. Le Guin @ursulakleguin.com · 24/08/2026

Bora Chung's novel-in-stories Midnight Timetable, translated by @antonhur.com, is shortlisted for the 2026 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction. Very few characters in this book are named, and here, Bora speaks about those names and what they mean. youtu.be/HE1YM5jBm0U?...

youtu.be

Bora Chung introduces "Midnight Timetable"

YouTube video by Ursula K. Le Guin Foundation

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Ursula K. Le Guin @ursulakleguin.com · 20/08/2026

🌟Shortlisted for the 2025 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction: Mad Sisters of Esi🌟 Using myth, fictional scholarship, alchemy, folktales, & animism, @tashanmehta.bsky.social creates a quantum form of storytelling that follows the relationship between two sets of sisters, generations & worlds apart.

The cover of Mad Sisters of Esi by Tashan Mehta shows a bright pink whale leaping out of a colorful burst of flower-like shapes, all against a black, space-like background. The book stands next to a small glass vase with two flowers, one a pale carnation, one a round orange flower.

“To Esi, you are another soft animal, an element in a biodiverse landscape capable of flowing into another soft animal; there is no perspective of “apart” or “alone” or "distinct." There is no concept of “orphan.” Wisa wasn’t a hungry child lost on the harbors. She was simply Wisa, a bird in a human body, and if she opened herself to the island, it would teach her how to fly.”
from Mad Sisters of Esi, by Tashan Mehta

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Ursula K. Le Guin @ursulakleguin.com · 19/08/2026

If you've been reading this year's Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction shortlist, mark your calendars for October 5th, when A Meal of Thorns discusses the shortlisted books!

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Ursula K. Le Guin @ursulakleguin.com · 19/08/2026

In 2011, Ursula wrote two blog posts about the 2005 lawsuit brought against Google, which had scanned millions of books without permission. On this week's episode of In Your Spare Time, Kim Stanley Robinson reads the first of these posts, "Unfacts Concerning the Google (Un)Settlement."

inyoursparetime.libsyn.com

In Your Spare Time: From the Blog of Ursula K. Le Guin: Kim Stanley Robinson reads "Unfacts Concerning the Google (Un)Settlement"

Kim Stanley Robinson reads post 19, "Unfacts Concerning the Google (Un)Settlement," from March 28, 2011. You can read Ursula's original blog post here:  

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Ursula K. Le Guin @ursulakleguin.com · 18/08/2026

The Wave in the Mind has a new look! This edition is now available from Shambhala www.shambhala.com/the-wave-in-...

The new cover for The Wave in the Mind by Ursula K. Le Guin is largely cream, with blue accents shaped like waves; brushy red layers float under or above each blue wave

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Ursula K. Le Guin @ursulakleguin.com · 17/08/2026

Sunward, by @willalex.bsky.social, is shortlisted for the 2026 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction. In this video, Will gives a little bit of context for robot children in science fiction, and how they have long reflected humanity's fears—but in his novel, their differences are celebrated.

youtube.com

Will Alexander reads from "Sunward"

YouTube video by Ursula K. Le Guin Foundation

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Ursula K. Le Guin @ursulakleguin.com · 13/08/2026

🌟Shortlisted for the 2025 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction🌟 In One Message Remains, @premeemohamed.com explores the way people—soldiers, civilians, bureaucrats. gallows-builders—live during wartime, occupation, & colonization. The cumulative effect is complexly anti-war & realistically hopeful.

A copy of One Message Remains by Premee Mohamed stands next to a small glass vase containing two pinkish-orangeish flowers and a sprig of greenery.

“Was it normal, did other people feel this way, did every subject of every empire go to sleep at night thinking I am afraid of the people who run my country, did they think I fear my state? Grandfather said it was about duty, not fear. But both were her masters. She served one if she served the other. Neither was not an option.” —from One Message Remains by Premee Mohamed

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Ursula K. Le Guin @ursulakleguin.com · 12/08/2026

In March of 2011, in the wake of the Tōhoku earthquake, Ursula's translator-friend Akemi Tanigaki asked Ursula if she would post a brief note for her readers in Japan. On this week's episode of In Your Spare Time, Akemi reads the resulting blog post.

inyoursparetime.libsyn.com

In Your Spare Time: From the Blog of Ursula K. Le Guin: Akemi Tanigaki reads "To My Readers in Japan"

Akemi Tanigaki reads post 18 "To My Readers in Japan" You can read Ursula's original post, from March 14, 2011, here:  

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Ursula K. Le Guin @ursulakleguin.com · 11/08/2026

Pip Adam's novel Audition is shortlisted for the 2026 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction. Here, Pip (@pipadam.bsky.social) introduces the book, then reads from the novel's opening pages. More about this year's shortlist: www.ursulakleguin.com/prize26

youtube.com

Pip Adam reads from "Audition"

YouTube video by Ursula K. Le Guin Foundation

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Reposted by Ursula K. Le Guin

Library of America @libraryofamerica.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

Weasel murder mysteries, tunnel sagas of the earthworm—these are but two examples of “therolinguistics,” the fictional field of study invented by @ursulakleguin.com and now drawing new researchers thanks to a recent exhibit in Los Angeles. Find out more about the show and its mind-expanding subject.

loa.org

Weasel Murder Mysteries and Tunnel Sagas of the Earthworm: A New Exhibit Explores Ursula K. Le Guin’s Therolinguistics - Library of America

In the Library of Antarctica, the noble literature of the emperor penguin is preserved in icy splendor. Sound farfetched? Ursula K. Le Guin didn’t think so, and neither does a new project inspired by ...

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Clarion West @clarionwest.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

The Curve of the World’s release was special for all of us. It’s the final novel written by our founder, Vonda N. McIntyre, published earlier this year. In July we got to host a reading and discussion, and now the entire event is available to watch on YouTube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4WU...

Over a background of abstract teal and pink bubbles, the words, "Now on YouTube." Underneath is a video header image featuring The Curve of the World by Vonda N. McIntyre: A reading and conversation with Nisi Shawl and Theo Downes-Le Guin." At the bottom, are the words, "Presented by Clarion West."

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Ursula K. Le Guin @ursulakleguin.com · 08/08/2026

Happy international cat day from the Toms of Atuan! (Ursula drew this on a postcard; you can also find the drawing in the Book of Cats).

A line drawing of four cats, captioned beneath, "The Toms of Atuan (who live on the Fartherest Shore)."

The first cat is curled up, croissant style, and looks disgruntled as he thinks "This is ridiculous." The second sits upright, and his speech bubble says, "Oh Marie! Marie! My own Marie!" The third cat is crouched as if to jump; his speech bubble reads, "Oomeoomeoo-meoomeoo." A fourth cat faces the viewer, standing, and says, "Err, Err, Err, myaaooww, Marie!"

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Vajra Chandrasekera @vajra.me · 05/08/2026

I'm very happy to have got the chance to participate in this project, and particularly enjoyed reading *this* post lol

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Ursula K. Le Guin @ursulakleguin.com · 05/08/2026

In March of 2011, Ursula wrote a colorfully titled blog post about colorful language: "I remember when swearing, though tame by modern standards, was quite varied and often highly characteristic." On this week's episode of In Your Spare Time, author @vajra.me reads "Would You Please Fucking Stop?"

inyoursparetime.libsyn.com

In Your Spare Time: From the Blog of Ursula K. Le Guin: Vajra Chandrasekera reads "Would You Please F—ing Stop?"

Vajra Chandrasekera reads post 17, "Would You Please F—ing Stop?"  You can read Ursula's original post, from March of 2011, here: Vajra's website is  

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Ursula K. Le Guin @ursulakleguin.com · 31/07/2026

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.

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Ursula K. Le Guin @ursulakleguin.com · 29/07/2026

Here's author @michelleruizkeil.bsky.social to introduce this week's episode of In Your Spare Time—which you can listen to here (or wherever you get your podcasts!): inyoursparetime.libsyn.com/michelle-rui...

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Ursula K. Le Guin @ursulakleguin.com · 24/07/2026

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.

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Ursula K. Le Guin @ursulakleguin.com · 17/07/2026

Coming in November from Tor Essentials: a new edition of The Word for World is Forest, with an introduction from @stephengrahamjones.com! On shelves November 17th. Cover design by Shreya Gupta.

The new cover for The Word for World is Forest by Ursula K. Le Guin, which shows the title, author's name, and "a new introduction by Stephen Graham Jones" in blue, yellow, and green clouds, over a background of smoking tree stumps and a sickly-colored sky and ground

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