Ursula K. Le Guin

American poet and science-fiction writer. Established as a published poet, her first magazine publication of sci-fi was in September 1962. Known to be one of the most widely read authors, she has won every major science fiction award as well as a National Book Award for "The Farthest Shore" in 1973. A teacher of French and writing workshops at universities, she became the foremost woman of letters in contemporary fantasy and sci-fiction. One of her minor classic's "The Left Hand of Darkness," 1969 was written in her so-called Hainish cycle.

Her dad, Alfred L. Kroeber, was a prominent University of California anthropology professor and her mom, Theodora, was a writer. She grew up with three big brothers in a house filled with books, conversation and stimulating dinner guests. The stories her dad told of his studies among the northern California Indians molded her early ambition to be a writer. When her dad took a job at Harvard she accepted the free tuition at Radcliff. She went on to earn a master's in literature at Columbia and then went to France on a Fulbright scholarship.

Enroute to France aboard the Queen Mary she met her husband-to-be, Charles Le Guin. They were married three months later in Paris on 25 December 1953. She and Charles had three kids: Elisabeth, who became a cellist; Caroline, a college English instructor; and Theo, a social researcher. While Charles taught college Ursula began to write. At first her poetry was accepted for publication while her surrealistic novels got rejection slips until 1964, when she sold "Rocannon's World." Like most of the earlier sci-fi writers, her books centered on male characters. Then, in 1978, she crossed a sexist barrier when she discovered that her male protagonist's female sidekick was really the heart of the story in "The Eye of the Heron." A politically active feminist, she devotes her spare time to the abortion-rights movement and peace advocacy.