The Wave in the Mind: Imagination and the Art of Writing and Reading

by Ursula K. Le Guin

Join Ursula K. Le Guin as she explores a broad array of subjects, ranging from Tolstoy, Twain, and Tolkien to women's shoes, beauty, and family life. With her customary wit, intelligence, and literary craftsmanship, she offers a diverse and highly engaging set of readings. The Wave in the Mind includes some of Le Guin's finest literary criticism, rare autobiographical writings, performance art pieces, and, most centrally, her reflections on the arts of writing and reading.

Genres: Nonfiction, Writing

320 pages, Paperback

First published August 4, 2026

About the author

Ursula K. Le Guin published twenty-two novels, eleven volumes of short stories, four collections of essays, twelve books for children, six volumes of poetry and four of translation, and has received many awards: Hugo, Nebula, National Book Award, PEN-Malamud, etc. Her recent publications include the novel Lavinia, an essay collection, Cheek by Jowl, and The Wild Girls. She lived in Portland, Oregon.

She was known for her treatment of gender (The Left Hand of Darkness, The Matter of Seggri), political systems (The Telling, The Dispossessed) and difference/otherness in any other form. Her interest in non-Western philosophies was reflected in works such as "Solitude" and The Telling but even more interesting are her imagined societies, often mixing traits extracted from her profound knowledge of anthropology acquired from growing up with her father, the famous anthropologist, Alfred Kroeber. The Hainish Cycle reflects the anthropologist's experience of immersing themselves in new strange cultures since most of their main characters and narrators (Le Guin favoured the first-person narration) are envoys from a humanitarian organization, the Ekumen, sent to investigate or ally themselves with the people of a different world and learn their ways.

Reviews

[Anna Maria · Rating 1 out of 5]

Having read all of the author’s Earthsea series, which I enjoyed immensely, I was interested in hearing of Le Guin’s thoughts on writing/being a writer.
The first few chapters were interesting, and she alluded to gaining the inspiration for some of her books’ places, from islands off the coast of Scotland.
Then, it descended into detailed and laborious analysis and critiques of the writings of other authors, mostly in well-known works. It began to read like a Language Arts textbook, which I found to be very dry and dull.
This is one of the very few, that have landed on my DNF shelf.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love people who write about writing. All essays are very interesting but I think my favourite one was the one about rhythm, never thought of words or books that way.

[Christina Karvounis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I devoured this exquisite collection of personal writings. Le Guin's facility with English in reflection is unmatched.