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Yazma Üzerine Sohbetler
Kurmaca, şiir ve kurmacadışına odaklanan üç ayrı söyleşiden oluşan bu sohbetlerde, yazmanın zorluk ve ödüllerini, inceliklerini ve püf noktalarını tartışıyor Ursula K. Le Guin. Bunu yaparken de, hem yazar olarak birikiminden hem de “yaşanan bilgelik” haline gelmiş tecrübelerinden bekleneceği üzere pek çok konuya değiniyor. Yazma zanaatının teknik detaylarından dilin ahlaki meseleleri yansıtma ve kullanma biçimlerine, yazının ritminden şiirin müziğine, yayıncılık piyasasından kadın yazarların edebi kanondan dışlanmasına, “öteki”nin perspektifinden yazmaktan siyaset, bilim ve doğaya uzanan geniş bir yelpaze bu.
“İyi bir söyleşinin hiç bitmemesini istersiniz,” diyor Le Guin. Nitekim yazarın kendi eserlerinin yanı sıra, etkilendiği ve ilham aldığı bazı eserlerden alınan pasajlarla da zenginleştirilmiş olan bu sohbetlerin tadı okurun damağında kalıyor. Hayranlarına Le Guin’i daha iyi tanıma fırsatı sunan bu kitabın, yazarı henüz tanımayanlar için de güzel bir tanışma vesilesi olacağını umuyoruz.
“İyi bir söyleşinin hiç bitmemesini istersiniz,” diyor Le Guin. Nitekim yazarın kendi eserlerinin yanı sıra, etkilendiği ve ilham aldığı bazı eserlerden alınan pasajlarla da zenginleştirilmiş olan bu sohbetlerin tadı okurun damağında kalıyor. Hayranlarına Le Guin’i daha iyi tanıma fırsatı sunan bu kitabın, yazarı henüz tanımayanlar için de güzel bir tanışma vesilesi olacağını umuyoruz.
128 pages, Paperback
First published April 3, 2018
165 people are currently reading
4927 people want to read
About the author
Ursula K. Le Guin
1,050 books31k followersUrsula 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 439 reviews
February 24, 2026
“Hard times are coming, when we’ll be wanting the voices of writers who can see alternatives to how we live now, can see through our fear-stricken society & its obsessive technologies to other ways of being, & even imagine real grounds for hope. We’ll need writers who can remember freedom—poets, visionaries—realists of a larger reality. . .”
A friend gave me this little book last summer. I hadn’t been that familiar with LeGuin, who died 1/20/18, though I read a collection of her essays at that time. In my youth I read at least one volume of that fantasy series, The Wizard of Earthsea, and the feminist science fiction The Left Hand of Darkness. I had had no idea she had written several books of poetry in addition to a real range of fiction, collections of essays, several children’s books. She wrote books on writing, too, and this book collects three interviews with David Naimon on topics dear to her: fiction, poetry and non-fiction, all conducted when she was in her late eighties.
Reflections on her life as writer, focused on craft, though it reveals a wide range of reading, not just in fantasy and science fiction—for which she is best known—but in everything from Rilke to Wittgenstein. Especially for writers, it’s warm and relaxed and insightful. Conversations on craft with a writer’s writer, and luckily Naimon knows her work and thinking well. I like how they include excerpts from writers they discuss as illustrative examples throughout.
"I hear what I write. I started writing poetry when I was really young. I always heard it in my head. I realized that a lot of people who write about writing don't seem to hear it, don't listen to it, their perception is more theoretical and intellectual. But if it's happening in your body, if you are hearing what you write, then you can listen for the right cadence, which will help the sentence run clear. And what young writers always talk about—‘finding your voice’--well, you can't find your own voice if you aren't listening for it."
“Beneath memory and experience, beneath imagination and invention, beneath words, there are rhythms to which memory and imagination and words all move. The writer’s job is to go down deep enough to feel that rhythm, find it, move to it, be moved by it, and let it move memory and imagination to find words.” [LeGuin uses Virginia Woolf as a prime example of these rhythms. She also likes Tolkien.]
Two small things: 1) The book made me want to seek out her acceptance speech for The Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters in 2014 which is said to be a rant about the commodification of writers and writing; 2) I did like a very short essay “On Serious Literature” included here ranting against the notion of the supposed superiority of “literary” fiction to “science fiction,” though in it she disses Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, which is one of my favorite books of all time. That made me a little grumpy.
A friend gave me this little book last summer. I hadn’t been that familiar with LeGuin, who died 1/20/18, though I read a collection of her essays at that time. In my youth I read at least one volume of that fantasy series, The Wizard of Earthsea, and the feminist science fiction The Left Hand of Darkness. I had had no idea she had written several books of poetry in addition to a real range of fiction, collections of essays, several children’s books. She wrote books on writing, too, and this book collects three interviews with David Naimon on topics dear to her: fiction, poetry and non-fiction, all conducted when she was in her late eighties.
Reflections on her life as writer, focused on craft, though it reveals a wide range of reading, not just in fantasy and science fiction—for which she is best known—but in everything from Rilke to Wittgenstein. Especially for writers, it’s warm and relaxed and insightful. Conversations on craft with a writer’s writer, and luckily Naimon knows her work and thinking well. I like how they include excerpts from writers they discuss as illustrative examples throughout.
"I hear what I write. I started writing poetry when I was really young. I always heard it in my head. I realized that a lot of people who write about writing don't seem to hear it, don't listen to it, their perception is more theoretical and intellectual. But if it's happening in your body, if you are hearing what you write, then you can listen for the right cadence, which will help the sentence run clear. And what young writers always talk about—‘finding your voice’--well, you can't find your own voice if you aren't listening for it."
“Beneath memory and experience, beneath imagination and invention, beneath words, there are rhythms to which memory and imagination and words all move. The writer’s job is to go down deep enough to feel that rhythm, find it, move to it, be moved by it, and let it move memory and imagination to find words.” [LeGuin uses Virginia Woolf as a prime example of these rhythms. She also likes Tolkien.]
Two small things: 1) The book made me want to seek out her acceptance speech for The Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters in 2014 which is said to be a rant about the commodification of writers and writing; 2) I did like a very short essay “On Serious Literature” included here ranting against the notion of the supposed superiority of “literary” fiction to “science fiction,” though in it she disses Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, which is one of my favorite books of all time. That made me a little grumpy.
October 25, 2022
I’ve been enjoying David Naimon’s Crafting with Ursula podcasts, and I thought I should really go try out the actual book of conversations. They’re the usual brilliant pithy things you’d expect from Le Guin, with Naiman asking good supportive questions. I found the fiction and nonfiction sections the most helpful.
July 10, 2019
Darn it! Now I HAVE to read all Le Guin works.
I really enjoyed the format of conversations the book is using, instead of the usual narrative one. The editing is really good as I could feel like I was watching the conversation taking place. The interviewer asked smart questions - showing his extensive knowledge of Le Guin's works and even other interviews/public speaking engagements - and her answers, oh my, are revelations. And thought provoking!
The book is divided into three parts: fiction, poetry and nonfiction. The first and last part are my faves, but that's because I know nothing about poetry.
The book actually is good entry point for those who want to know about Le Guin's works, since there are many excerpts given, which in my case gave a whole lot of TBR materials in the future. She was also very well versed with the SFF history so she gave a lot of recommendation on authors to read, especially female authors that we forget or neglect to canonize. She was also very opinionated and able to elucidate her argument in a clear and concise manner, but whimsical as well. She once wrote an allegory as a response for a book reviewer (who said genre fiction having no place in the living world) and it was delicious.
I thoroughly enjoy this book, it's short and enlightening, and might be my favorite to win the Hugo award to win the best related work category.
I really enjoyed the format of conversations the book is using, instead of the usual narrative one. The editing is really good as I could feel like I was watching the conversation taking place. The interviewer asked smart questions - showing his extensive knowledge of Le Guin's works and even other interviews/public speaking engagements - and her answers, oh my, are revelations. And thought provoking!
The book is divided into three parts: fiction, poetry and nonfiction. The first and last part are my faves, but that's because I know nothing about poetry.
The book actually is good entry point for those who want to know about Le Guin's works, since there are many excerpts given, which in my case gave a whole lot of TBR materials in the future. She was also very well versed with the SFF history so she gave a lot of recommendation on authors to read, especially female authors that we forget or neglect to canonize. She was also very opinionated and able to elucidate her argument in a clear and concise manner, but whimsical as well. She once wrote an allegory as a response for a book reviewer (who said genre fiction having no place in the living world) and it was delicious.
I thoroughly enjoy this book, it's short and enlightening, and might be my favorite to win the Hugo award to win the best related work category.
December 23, 2024
3.25 stars. I found the “writing fiction” portion useful, especially when she talked about the benefits of writing in past tense as opposed to present tense and how authorial POV is the most freeing of POVs but is also the most challenging. My criticism is it’s simply too short and if you’ve already read ‘The Language Of The Night’ and ‘Steering The Craft’ there’s even less to glean from this book. The fiction portion is only 50 pages and the book is small. She also discusses her approach to poetry and writing for nonfiction as well.
I think this book is a perfect introduction to Ursula K. Le Guin’s writing tips and body of work because it offers samples of both.
I think this book is a perfect introduction to Ursula K. Le Guin’s writing tips and body of work because it offers samples of both.
September 24, 2018
Essentially an interview in book format, a conversation in three parts (fiction, poetry, non fiction) between Ursula K. Le Guin and David Naimon. This is really an amuse-bouche of a book, a taste of Le Guin's formidable intellect and opinions on a wide-range of topics relevant to the craft of writing.
If nothing else this has made me want to seek out Le Guin's book reviews and her blistering acceptance speech for The Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters in 2014, in which she takes aim at the commodification of the publishing industry.
This is a nice little reference book that has lead me to add more books to my reading list, particularly Le Guin's own book on reading and writing called Words Are My Matter which I hope will flesh out topics that are touched on too briefly here.
I must admit I was disquieted to see Cormac McCarthy's The Road getting rather a lambasting from Le Guin. The Road seems to be the example she uses to examine the "culture wars" of genre vs literary fiction. McCarthy's version being marketed as literary fiction rather than science fiction and telling a story that has been done many times over by capable science fiction writers with much less fanfare. This all maybe perfectly true, but it does not diminish my own love for McCarthy's version.
All in all, a slight but thoughtful collection of three interviews, that offers some insights to writers and readers both.
If nothing else this has made me want to seek out Le Guin's book reviews and her blistering acceptance speech for The Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters in 2014, in which she takes aim at the commodification of the publishing industry.
This is a nice little reference book that has lead me to add more books to my reading list, particularly Le Guin's own book on reading and writing called Words Are My Matter which I hope will flesh out topics that are touched on too briefly here.
I must admit I was disquieted to see Cormac McCarthy's The Road getting rather a lambasting from Le Guin. The Road seems to be the example she uses to examine the "culture wars" of genre vs literary fiction. McCarthy's version being marketed as literary fiction rather than science fiction and telling a story that has been done many times over by capable science fiction writers with much less fanfare. This all maybe perfectly true, but it does not diminish my own love for McCarthy's version.
All in all, a slight but thoughtful collection of three interviews, that offers some insights to writers and readers both.
September 20, 2021
Although I have only read the excellent The Left Hand of Darkness, I was very interested to hear what Le Guin had to say about the art of writing. This little book collects her interviews with David Naimon where they discuss fiction, non-fiction and poetry, as well as the author’s ‘philosophy’.
Not only were the transcripts fascinating but I loved that this edition included excerpts of the works mentioned, allowing you a better understanding. The result made me want to go and read everything she wrote.
Not only were the transcripts fascinating but I loved that this edition included excerpts of the works mentioned, allowing you a better understanding. The result made me want to go and read everything she wrote.
February 16, 2020
Poco antes de fallecer el 22 de enero de 2018, la escritora nativa de Berkeley pero residente en Oregón se reunió en tres ocasiones para mantener una serie de conversaciones con el escritor y periodista David Naimon (interviewer).
Estructurada en tres bloques temáticos: narrativa, poesía y ensayo. Una pequeña forma de guiar al lector por esta serie de charlas informales y amistosas que se van diluyendo conforme vamos adentrándonos en las conversaciones. El libro se convierte en un espejo de la propia Ursula K. Le Guin y sus habituales observaciones sobre los temas que siempre le han interesado.
Todo ello se complementa con unos pequeños -y magníficos- interludios con fondo negro donde tenemos ocasión de leer algún cuento, fragmento, poema o discurso que entrevistador y entrevistada menciona de pasada en algún momento de su entrevista.
Reseña más extensa en el blog: https://boywithletters.blogspot.com/2...
Estructurada en tres bloques temáticos: narrativa, poesía y ensayo. Una pequeña forma de guiar al lector por esta serie de charlas informales y amistosas que se van diluyendo conforme vamos adentrándonos en las conversaciones. El libro se convierte en un espejo de la propia Ursula K. Le Guin y sus habituales observaciones sobre los temas que siempre le han interesado.
Todo ello se complementa con unos pequeños -y magníficos- interludios con fondo negro donde tenemos ocasión de leer algún cuento, fragmento, poema o discurso que entrevistador y entrevistada menciona de pasada en algún momento de su entrevista.
Reseña más extensa en el blog: https://boywithletters.blogspot.com/2...
December 20, 2023
Si les interesa la escritura y quieren tomársela un poco más enserio, tienen que leer esta maravilla de lectura. Super formativa, repleta de aprendizaje, mil perspectivas y recomendaciones hasta el hartazgo. Esto es literatura.
May 21, 2021
This is a short book which is actually an interview in which Le Guin discusses her writing of fiction, poetry and non-fiction. The best part was it included excerpts of the writing discussed highlighting the references Le Guin made. It was an easy read but actually I wanted more. After reading No Time to Spare by Le Guin I was hungry to read more of her thoughts on writing. I've loved her science fiction and have read many of her books several times and was hoping there would be more references to them. Did not find much of that here. Was unfamiliar with her poetry so that was a plus but wanted more about specific fiction. Le Guin was a great, great writer so I will continue to explore more of what she said about her craft. A good book but just a starting point for me.
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March 4, 2021
Amazing!
I don't think I'm going to rate this book, just because it's quite literally a book that compiles David Naimon and Ursula K. Le Guin's interviews.
For anyone who is interested in writing, in Le Guin herself and what Le Guin stands for in fiction, poetry and non-fiction, then read this book.
I annotated the fuck out this too. And I never annotate books!
Here are just some of the quotes that I really enjoyed:
"And what young writers always talk about - 'finding your voice' - well, you can't find your own voice if you aren't listening for it." - pg. 16-17
"A very interesting case in point is using 'they' as singular. This offends the grammar bullies endlessly... Shakespeare used 'they' instead of 'he or she' - we all do, we always have done, in speaking, in colloquial English." - pg. 24-25
"To limit all human behaviour to conflict is to leave out vast, rich areas of human experience." - pg. 41
"'Home, imagined, comes to be. It is real, realer than any other place, but you can't get to it unless your people show you how to imagine it - whoever your people are'" - pg. 109
I could keep going on. I honestly wish I could just pick her brain for a whole day because she is such a fascinating literary icon. I really enjoyed the little exerts of text that the Naimon or Le Guin make references to. A couple of Le Guin's poems are in here, statements from her essays and passages from Virginia Woolfe and J.R.R. Tolkien and many others. I can't wait to read more of her fiction and of her nonfiction!
I don't think I'm going to rate this book, just because it's quite literally a book that compiles David Naimon and Ursula K. Le Guin's interviews.
For anyone who is interested in writing, in Le Guin herself and what Le Guin stands for in fiction, poetry and non-fiction, then read this book.
I annotated the fuck out this too. And I never annotate books!
Here are just some of the quotes that I really enjoyed:
"And what young writers always talk about - 'finding your voice' - well, you can't find your own voice if you aren't listening for it." - pg. 16-17
"A very interesting case in point is using 'they' as singular. This offends the grammar bullies endlessly... Shakespeare used 'they' instead of 'he or she' - we all do, we always have done, in speaking, in colloquial English." - pg. 24-25
"To limit all human behaviour to conflict is to leave out vast, rich areas of human experience." - pg. 41
"'Home, imagined, comes to be. It is real, realer than any other place, but you can't get to it unless your people show you how to imagine it - whoever your people are'" - pg. 109
I could keep going on. I honestly wish I could just pick her brain for a whole day because she is such a fascinating literary icon. I really enjoyed the little exerts of text that the Naimon or Le Guin make references to. A couple of Le Guin's poems are in here, statements from her essays and passages from Virginia Woolfe and J.R.R. Tolkien and many others. I can't wait to read more of her fiction and of her nonfiction!
December 9, 2025
bir uçuşta bitirdim. çok güzel bir kitap. dinler gibi okudum. ursula sevenler derneği üyelerine öneririm efem.
August 26, 2021
Cortito y al pie. Bellísimo libro sobre la literatura y los procesos creativos. Muy recomendable.
July 9, 2020
Kitap Ursula ile yapılan kurmaca, şiir ve kurmacadışı üzerine üç bölümden oluşan bir röportajı içeriyor. Okurken çok zevk aldım. Kendisini tanımak için okumaya ve yazmaya bakış açısını görmek adına çok güzel bir okuma bence. Sevenleri ya da kendisiyle tanışmak isteyenler kaçırmasın.
June 26, 2020
Ursula K. Le Guin'in kurmaca metinlerinin dışındaki eserlerini okumak da her zaman ufkumu açıyor, beni heyecanlandırıyor; ondan sürekli yeni bir şey öğrendiğimi söylemeliyim. Zihnimi kışkırtıyor; edebiyat, sanat, yazarın poetikası, yayıncılık piyasası, hayat felsefesi ve siyaset, doğa, toplumsal cinsiyet ve daha pek çok konuda düşüncelerini açıklama biçimi, üslubu ve derinliğiyle beni etkiliyor. O yüzden özellikle de yazan veya yazma arzusu duyan herkese onun deneme kitaplarını, kendisiyle yapılmış röportajları öneriyorum. Düşüncelerini ve deneyimlerini aktarmakta bonkör oluşunu da çok seviyorum.
Metis'ten yeni çıkan Yazma Üzerine Sohbetler kitabı üç oturumluk bir radyo konuşmalarından oluşuyor. Hemen söyleyeyim, bence Ursula K. Le Guin'in diğer denemelerini hatmetmiş bir okursanız bu kitap sizi fazla tatmin etmeyecektir. Ama henüz okumadıysanız iyi bir başlangıç olabilir. Ayrıca Kadınlar, Rüyalar, Ejderhalar zirvedir bence. Ursula K. Le Guin derya deniz bir zihne sahip, onun zihninin dalgalarında yüzmek için tabii önce kıyısında biraz alıştırma yapmak iyi olabilir. Bu dediğim sakın sizi korkutmasın, öyle usul usul anlatır ki meselesini, zihninin dalgalarının sizi yutmasına izin vermez asla. Çünkü o aynı zamanda kendi egosuyla daime mücadele eden bir entelektüeldir.
#okudumbitti #okumaönerisi #kitap #kitapönerisi #bookstagram #books #yaratıcıyazarlık #ursulakleguinlekonuşmalar
Metis'ten yeni çıkan Yazma Üzerine Sohbetler kitabı üç oturumluk bir radyo konuşmalarından oluşuyor. Hemen söyleyeyim, bence Ursula K. Le Guin'in diğer denemelerini hatmetmiş bir okursanız bu kitap sizi fazla tatmin etmeyecektir. Ama henüz okumadıysanız iyi bir başlangıç olabilir. Ayrıca Kadınlar, Rüyalar, Ejderhalar zirvedir bence. Ursula K. Le Guin derya deniz bir zihne sahip, onun zihninin dalgalarında yüzmek için tabii önce kıyısında biraz alıştırma yapmak iyi olabilir. Bu dediğim sakın sizi korkutmasın, öyle usul usul anlatır ki meselesini, zihninin dalgalarının sizi yutmasına izin vermez asla. Çünkü o aynı zamanda kendi egosuyla daime mücadele eden bir entelektüeldir.
#okudumbitti #okumaönerisi #kitap #kitapönerisi #bookstagram #books #yaratıcıyazarlık #ursulakleguinlekonuşmalar
July 16, 2019
At different points in my reading life I have promised myself I was going to read something by Ursula K. Le Guin. So, when she died in January of this year at the age of 88, I had that feeling of regret a reader can have - of not being able to join in the celebration of the impact of a writer’s work on my own consciousness.
Shortly after, I saw this book on the shelf at my public library and decided to begin getting acquainted with the ideas of Ursula Le Guin by “eavesdropping” on her conversations with David Naimon.
From the outset, I learned that Le Guin, herself, had penned the Introduction as recently as October of 2017; and February 2018 when the book went to press Naimon wrote: “I’m still grieving the dream of launching this book with Ursula, us together blessing its journey. I would’ve been grateful to partake in any project of hers, but I’m particularly honored to be a part of this one, one of the last of her long, remarkable life.”
Less than 140 pages, this small book is rich with Le Guin’s ideas about writing, from the rhythmic and sonic characteristics of language, to technical aspects such as grammar and form. She shares her thoughts on genre, imagination, and the limits of stories that are driven by conflict, only. She defines “technology;” and speaks truth to publishing industry power. In all of these things her voice comes through as compassionate, tolerant, deeply hopeful and humane.
David Naimon came to these conversations having read thoughtfully and thoroughly Le Guin’s body of work, and his observations, comments, and questions kept their conversations engrossing. Brief excerpts from the works Naimon cites are included so anyone can read and appreciate their discussion without having already read( for instance) Words Are My Matter: Writings About Life and Books, 2000–2016, with A Journal of a Writer's Week and Late in the Day: Poems 2010–2014.
Shortly after, I saw this book on the shelf at my public library and decided to begin getting acquainted with the ideas of Ursula Le Guin by “eavesdropping” on her conversations with David Naimon.
From the outset, I learned that Le Guin, herself, had penned the Introduction as recently as October of 2017; and February 2018 when the book went to press Naimon wrote: “I’m still grieving the dream of launching this book with Ursula, us together blessing its journey. I would’ve been grateful to partake in any project of hers, but I’m particularly honored to be a part of this one, one of the last of her long, remarkable life.”
Less than 140 pages, this small book is rich with Le Guin’s ideas about writing, from the rhythmic and sonic characteristics of language, to technical aspects such as grammar and form. She shares her thoughts on genre, imagination, and the limits of stories that are driven by conflict, only. She defines “technology;” and speaks truth to publishing industry power. In all of these things her voice comes through as compassionate, tolerant, deeply hopeful and humane.
David Naimon came to these conversations having read thoughtfully and thoroughly Le Guin’s body of work, and his observations, comments, and questions kept their conversations engrossing. Brief excerpts from the works Naimon cites are included so anyone can read and appreciate their discussion without having already read( for instance) Words Are My Matter: Writings About Life and Books, 2000–2016, with A Journal of a Writer's Week and Late in the Day: Poems 2010–2014.
April 15, 2021
The only Le Guin I have ever read is 'The Wizard of Earthsea', and I'm sad to say that at the time I was underwhelmed by it. This book, however, makes me want to revisit it, as well as dive into the rest of her works, fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. She expresses her opinions with such clarity and has such interesting ideas on writing, feminism, and so much more. A quick but extremely worthwhile read.
April 2, 2026
‘That deeper meaning is where poetry approaches music, because you cannot put that meaning in words in an intellectually comprehensible way. It’s just there and you know it’s there, and it is the rhythm and the beat, the music of the sound that carries it. This is extremely mysterious and rightly so.’
Undoubtedly a 5 stars read/writing — if rated/felt otherwise, then (in my personal opinion) you really didn’t ‘get’ it/her. Brilliant from cover to cover. So timeless and so timely. I definitely recommend this to and for anyone and everyone.
‘The good interview is like a good badminton rally: you know right away that the two of you can keep that birdie in the air, and all you have to do is watch it fly—The game that is being played there is a game of social class. The trouble is that people who aren’t taught grammar very well in school fall for—statements from—pundits, delivered with vast authority from above. I’m fighting that. It took the women’s movement to bring it back to English literature. And it is important. Because it’s a crossroads between correctness bullying and the moral use of language. If “he” includes “she” but “she” doesn’t include “he,” a big statement is being made, with huge social and moral implications. But we don’t have to use “he” that way—we’ve got “they.” Why not use it?’
‘This difference between grammatical correctness and the ways language engages moral questions : “We can’t restructure society without restructuring the English language.” That the battle is essentially as much at the sentence level as it is in the world.’
‘I realised just how experimental Charles Dickens’s Bleak House was. You discuss it, not necessarily as a text to emulate, but to show some of the radical choices he made both in terms of how he alternates point of view and also how he alternates tense.’
‘If you say that story is about conflict, that plot must be based on conflict, you’re limiting your view of the world severely. And in a sense making a political statement: that life is conflict, so in stories conflict is all that really matters. This is simply untrue. To see life as a battle is a narrow, social-Darwinist view, and a very masculine one. Conflict, of course, is part of life, I’m not saying you should try to keep it out of your stories, just that it’s not their only lifeblood. Stories are about a lot of different things.’
‘I resist putting everything into terms of conflict and immediate violent resolution. I don’t think that existence works that way. I’m trying to remember what Lao Tzu says about conflict. He limits it to the battlefield, where it belongs. To limit all human behavior to conflict is to leave out vast, rich areas of human experience.’
‘At the very end of the book there is a suggestion that if we aren’t forever at war we will be peaceable and boring and dull and not do anything worth doing. All I can say is that’s not my experience of war and peace. I was a kid during the Second World War. All-out war is not a period where creativity gets much play. Coming out of that war was like coming out of a very dark place into an open world where you could think and do something other than war, the war effort, fighting. Where there was room for creation, not just destruction.’
‘Of course, the sentence has its rhythms too. Woolf was intensely aware of that. She has a paragraph about how rhythm is what gives her the book, but, boy, it’s hard to talk about. It’s one of these experiential things that we don’t really have a vocabulary for. I wonder if there is a vocabulary for it. It’s like talking, again, about music. You can only say so much about music and then you simply have to play it. Some person can hear it and get it or not get it.’
‘I have to put Rilke very high. I had MacIntyre’s translation of The Duino Elegies one summer when I needed help. I was in a bad time, and I kind of feel like some of the elegies got me out of it. They carried me through it, anyway. I don’t know German. So, Rilke and Goethe I have to deal with facing translations and then just work my way back and forth and back and forth. Usually I end up trying to make my own crummy translation, so I can work my way into the German words with a dictionary. That is a very laborious way of reading poetry—if you do it word by word, if you don’t know the German nouns and have to look up every single one, and the verbs are mysterious and not in the right place [laughs], by the time you’ve done that, you know the poem. You’ve kind of made your own version of it in English, and that’s why I love translating from languages I do know and even from languages I don’t, like with Lao Tzu.’
‘Actually The Book of Hours is not one of my favorites. I like later Rilke. He’s a very strange poet and a lot of what he says doesn’t mean much to me. But when he says things and it’s the music, even I know. My father was a German speaker, and I heard him speak German, so I know what it sounds like even if I don’t know the language. It’s the music that carries it in reality. A strange rhythm he has.’
‘Whatever may happen to the arts in bad times, the verbal arts, at least, tend to become very important. It’s really important what you say in the bad times. I think about a book that has been so important to me, Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching. That book is the product of a very bad time in China. It was called the Warring States Period. A time of civil war and invasion. And he was, in fact, going into exile. In the mythology about him, that was why he wrote the book. Staying at an inn on the border, before he crossed over into “the outer world,” he took a night or two to write this book—I needed to figure out what I really, really wanted to say.’
‘That “home” isn’t your family, nor is the house where you live. Home is instead imaginary. And by imaginary you don’t mean illusory, but in some respects more real than any other place. You write, “Home, imagined, comes to be. It is real, realer than any other place, but you can’t get to it unless your people show you how to imagine it—whoever your people are.”’
‘And a very large part of knowing who we are is knowing where we came from, where we live now, and if there is a further home to go to, what might it be? Placing yourself among your people within a certain context on the Earth. And it seems to take a lively effort of the imagination to accomplish this, so all myths in a sense are “unrealistic.” And yet they are trying to get to the heart of one’s reality as a human being who is a member of a community. Which is kind of an important job.’
‘The thing is we don’t live with animals as we did—You didn’t used to be able to get away from the animals. They were part of your life, absolutely essential to your well-being as fellow workers in the field, as your food supply, your wool supply, and so on. Now we get all that at an enormous distance. Now there are people who can’t be in a room with an animal. What would they have done a hundred years ago? I really don’t know—Children grow up never touching any living being except another human being. No wonder we are alienated.’
‘We can live in the cities as if there were no other living beings on Earth. No wonder people get indifferent and think it doesn’t matter if you extinguish a species. You have to be in touch and we are not. I think that kids’ stories and animal stories are an imaginative way of at least being in touch. Therefore they are very important. But my opinion is not shared by a lot of literary people. Literary people tend to assume if it is about animals, it is probably sentimental. And sentimentality is the worst possible sin.’
‘I suppose it comes down in some ways to the brute and simple fact that a woman conceives, carries a child, and bears it. Women can perform this enormous natural act that men can’t. So how much of this is male compensation? How much of a lot of human behavior is male compensation, claiming generative power as the only power, and calling any other power or ability inferior? That is a theme that goes through a lot of my writing, because it goes through a lot of our lives.’
‘I cannot forgive Wallace Stegner, who was very well-known, very popular, very much adored by the intelligentsia, who easily could afford to give credit where credit was due. And he didn’t. I do not forgive.’
‘—Naomi Replansky, who is now ninety-nine and lives in New York, whom I got to know as a pen pal—was reading one of Saramago’s novels, Blindness, and told me, “This is great, you’ve got to read this.” So I got a copy, because I obey Naomi, and it scared me to death. I just couldn’t read it. It was so frightening and it was extremely difficult to read because there is no paragraphing and very little punctuation. It is made almost as if to deliberately slow you down. I backed off but I could feel there was something here. So I went and got some more Saramago and put myself through a course on his work. This is all within the last ten or fifteen years, very late in my life. He is not very far ahead of me. He was maybe ten years older than me. He started writing novels very late in his life and he was still writing novels in his seventies and eighties. That’s not only impressive but good news to me. You don’t have to stop.’
‘So I invested a lot in Saramago and it paid off for me. He is not an easy writer, partly because of his idiosyncratic punctuation and paragraphing. You just have to allow him that. I still don’t quite understand why he does it but I have to figure that any artist that good knows why he did it—always against the dictatorship in his home country, Portugal, and always against the heavy hand of the Catholic Church there. A man of extreme moral sensitivity, and terrific sympathy for all kinds of underdogs, including women and dogs. He won my heart is what happened—the Nobel committee made a good choice that time—otherwise I never would have heard of him. Most of us wouldn’t have.’
‘Being Portuguese is damnation as a writer. It takes a lot to get you out of writing in a “minor” language. Because he was always translated into Spanish, immediately, I think, he might have slowly come to notice. But I’m happy they Nobel-ed him.’
‘—Margaret Atwood is far too bright and complicated a person to be motivated by anything—crass. But it does make for a considerable discomfort sometimes in our ongoing conversation as writers who like each other. I just insist that when I write science fiction I know what it is and I know that I’m writing it. And I’m not going to have it called anything else. But that also is true when I’m not writing science fiction. I don’t want it called science fiction just because I’m a “science fiction writer.” These categories are very, very important to me personally. I’m always kind of on thin ice when trying to review Atwood. But it is always interesting.’
‘It was not exactly love at first sight. I didn’t know very much Spanish when I started reading her. My friend Diana Bellessi in Argentina sent me some selected Mistral and said, “You have to read this,” and so I labored into it with my Spanish dictionary and I just fell in love. I never read anything like Mistral. There isn’t anybody like Mistral, she’s very individual, and it’s an awful shame that Neruda—the other Chilean who got the Nobel—gets all the attention. But you know men tend to get the attention and you sort of struggle to keep the women in the eye of the men. Neruda is a very good poet, but Mistral just has a lot more to say to me than he does.’
October 25, 2022
Otro libro publicado que me faltaba tener en mi biblioteca personal de obras de Ursula, quien (al igual que Alan Moore) podría hablar de su lista de la compra y sería interesante. En esta oportunidad conversa de tres grandes temas: el poder de la imaginación, su fascinación con Gabriela Mistral y el ritmo en la poesía (hay unas referencias bellísimas a sus poetas favoritos) y muy buenos consejos sobre la crítica literaria.
May 30, 2020
Este libro recopila tres entrevistas que David Naimon realizó a Ursula K. Le Guin durante varios encuentros. En cada una de estas entrevistas tratan tres géneros literarios distintos: narrativa, poesía y ensayo. El título, por cierto, es muy acertado. Más que entrevistas acaban por parecer conversaciones mantenidas entre dos colegas que reflexionan sobre temas literarios. El libro, además, intercala textos de otros autores o la propia Ursula para poder tener los mismos referentes de los que hablan.
Al margen de tener más o menos interés en el arte de la escritura, lo cierto es que este libro podría pasar como una especie de pequeño legado literario donde podemos leer sobre los temas que más trabajaba Le Guin en su obra. Así, aunque no se tenga especial afición por los libros sobre escritura, este libro ayudará a comprender la filosofía de la autora y abarcará aspectos que sobrepasan el arte literario. Por eso mismo estos textos deberían tener un alcance general: reflexionaremos acerca de la importancia de la imaginación en nuestra sociedad (y cómo se está dejando de lado en la educación) o en cómo el constante alejamiento del ser humano y la naturaleza nos afecta directamente como especie (tanto a nivel físico como psicológico). En definitiva, es un libro plagado de reflexiones preciosas y otras más reivindicativas, que nacen de un pensamiento que ha profundizado en las ideas gracias a historias que siempre han dado un paso más allá de lo establecido por lo canónico.
Además del reflejo de su filosofía en su obra, también se habla de autoras que por el hecho de ser mujeres han acabado olvidadas. Por ejemplo, CJ Cherryh, quien ganó el premio Hugo en la misma época que William Gibson, dos veces, y a día de hoy ha quedado relegada a un segundo plano. También, fuera de la literatura de género, obras como Al faro de Virginia Woolf han tardado demasiado tiempo en considerarse hitos literarios por su gran aportación al campo de la narrativa, incluso la relevancia de la propia autora.
Nota a la edición: la traducción de Núria Molines es tan fluida que no tienes la sensación de estar leyendo un texto traducido. Leerlo ha sido una gozada.
Al margen de tener más o menos interés en el arte de la escritura, lo cierto es que este libro podría pasar como una especie de pequeño legado literario donde podemos leer sobre los temas que más trabajaba Le Guin en su obra. Así, aunque no se tenga especial afición por los libros sobre escritura, este libro ayudará a comprender la filosofía de la autora y abarcará aspectos que sobrepasan el arte literario. Por eso mismo estos textos deberían tener un alcance general: reflexionaremos acerca de la importancia de la imaginación en nuestra sociedad (y cómo se está dejando de lado en la educación) o en cómo el constante alejamiento del ser humano y la naturaleza nos afecta directamente como especie (tanto a nivel físico como psicológico). En definitiva, es un libro plagado de reflexiones preciosas y otras más reivindicativas, que nacen de un pensamiento que ha profundizado en las ideas gracias a historias que siempre han dado un paso más allá de lo establecido por lo canónico.
Además del reflejo de su filosofía en su obra, también se habla de autoras que por el hecho de ser mujeres han acabado olvidadas. Por ejemplo, CJ Cherryh, quien ganó el premio Hugo en la misma época que William Gibson, dos veces, y a día de hoy ha quedado relegada a un segundo plano. También, fuera de la literatura de género, obras como Al faro de Virginia Woolf han tardado demasiado tiempo en considerarse hitos literarios por su gran aportación al campo de la narrativa, incluso la relevancia de la propia autora.
A Joyce lo canonizaron casi de inmediato; a Woolf o bien la excluyen del canon o, durante décadas, la admitieron solo a regañadientes y con recelo. Se pueden dar muy buenos argumentos para decir que 'Al faro', con sus sutiles y efectivas técnicas y dispositivos narrativos ha tenido mucha más influencia en la novela posterior que el 'Ulises', un monumental punto muerto.
Nota a la edición: la traducción de Núria Molines es tan fluida que no tienes la sensación de estar leyendo un texto traducido. Leerlo ha sido una gozada.
February 18, 2020
La reseña completa en https://inthenevernever.blogspot.com/...
“Es muy importante lo que dices en tiempos oscuros”.
Ya saben que Ursula K. Le Guin es una de mis autoras favoritas. Aún me falta leer muchas de sus novelas, pero con cada nuevo ensayo y con cada descubrimiento que hago de su narrativa mi admiración y cariño aumentan. Por ello hoy quiero recomendarles Conversaciones sobre la escritura, un libro que acaba de publicar la editorial Alpha Decay en el que se plasma una serie de entrevistas sobre la escritura que Le Guin mantuvo con su amigo David Naimon en los estudios de KBOO (una radio local de Porland) poco antes de fallecer en enero de 2018.
“Es muy importante lo que dices en tiempos oscuros”.
Ya saben que Ursula K. Le Guin es una de mis autoras favoritas. Aún me falta leer muchas de sus novelas, pero con cada nuevo ensayo y con cada descubrimiento que hago de su narrativa mi admiración y cariño aumentan. Por ello hoy quiero recomendarles Conversaciones sobre la escritura, un libro que acaba de publicar la editorial Alpha Decay en el que se plasma una serie de entrevistas sobre la escritura que Le Guin mantuvo con su amigo David Naimon en los estudios de KBOO (una radio local de Porland) poco antes de fallecer en enero de 2018.
July 8, 2018
This is a beautiful little book, packed with not only the conversations referenced in the title, but also excerpts of the works the conversations refer to. I love everything she says about writing, always.
April 17, 2018
It’s lovely to have a transcript of UKL’s conversations with David Naimon. Excerpts of most of the works mentioned (whether UKL’s or others’) are included, which is a really lovely touch.
January 26, 2022
4.5
"Conversaciones sobre la escritura" recoge, más que una entrevista, un conjunto de conversaciones que Úrsula tuvo con David Naimon poco antes de su fallecimiento. En estas charlas, Úrsula y David hablan sobre el proceso de la escritura en tres partes bien diferenciadas: la narrativa, la poesía y el ensayo. Le Guin fue una escritora muy prolífica que tocó muchas ramas diferentes del arte de escribir, teniendo cada una su método y su forma a la hora de abordarlas.
Pero no solo se centran en la técnica, ya que, como bien recalca la autora en varias ocasiones el proceso de escribir va mucho más allá de las reglas. En este libro tan cortito pero tan enriquecedor se habla de la interpretación, del mensaje, de la inspiración, la imaginación... De una forma tan inteligente como accesible para el lector no tan experimentado en este mundo de la literatura.
Leer estas conversaciones es una delicia. Tanto David como Úrsula rebosan amor por aquello de lo que hablan, genuino interés y una innegable inteligencia y cultura, pero sin caer en la pedantería. Eres capaz de captar todos los matices de lo que comparten, pero en ningún momento los sientes como personas innacesibles o lejanas. De alguna forma sientes que a pesar de esa sabiduría que emanan, no te mirarían por encima del hombro, no sé si me explico.
También hay sitio en estas conversaciones para la crítica, alguna que otra puyita educada y temas de actualidad como el lenguaje inclusivo, la apropiación cultural y el feminismo. Porque como no, no se puede hablar de la autora dejando de lado la profundidad de todos los temas que trata en sus historias.
Quizá la única parte que me ha interesado un poquito menos ha sido la de la poesía, ya que nunca he conseguido conectar demasiado con el género, pero es un tema completamente personal. Y a pesar de eso, también me ha gustado leer sobre ello.
Un libro corto pero del que se puede sacar mucho jugo. Este sí que lo recomiendo tanto si conocéis a la autora como si aún no habéis leído nada suyo. Creo que todo el mundo puede disfrutar de sus páginas y extraer de ellas muchas reflexiones.
"Conversaciones sobre la escritura" recoge, más que una entrevista, un conjunto de conversaciones que Úrsula tuvo con David Naimon poco antes de su fallecimiento. En estas charlas, Úrsula y David hablan sobre el proceso de la escritura en tres partes bien diferenciadas: la narrativa, la poesía y el ensayo. Le Guin fue una escritora muy prolífica que tocó muchas ramas diferentes del arte de escribir, teniendo cada una su método y su forma a la hora de abordarlas.
Pero no solo se centran en la técnica, ya que, como bien recalca la autora en varias ocasiones el proceso de escribir va mucho más allá de las reglas. En este libro tan cortito pero tan enriquecedor se habla de la interpretación, del mensaje, de la inspiración, la imaginación... De una forma tan inteligente como accesible para el lector no tan experimentado en este mundo de la literatura.
Leer estas conversaciones es una delicia. Tanto David como Úrsula rebosan amor por aquello de lo que hablan, genuino interés y una innegable inteligencia y cultura, pero sin caer en la pedantería. Eres capaz de captar todos los matices de lo que comparten, pero en ningún momento los sientes como personas innacesibles o lejanas. De alguna forma sientes que a pesar de esa sabiduría que emanan, no te mirarían por encima del hombro, no sé si me explico.
También hay sitio en estas conversaciones para la crítica, alguna que otra puyita educada y temas de actualidad como el lenguaje inclusivo, la apropiación cultural y el feminismo. Porque como no, no se puede hablar de la autora dejando de lado la profundidad de todos los temas que trata en sus historias.
Quizá la única parte que me ha interesado un poquito menos ha sido la de la poesía, ya que nunca he conseguido conectar demasiado con el género, pero es un tema completamente personal. Y a pesar de eso, también me ha gustado leer sobre ello.
Un libro corto pero del que se puede sacar mucho jugo. Este sí que lo recomiendo tanto si conocéis a la autora como si aún no habéis leído nada suyo. Creo que todo el mundo puede disfrutar de sus páginas y extraer de ellas muchas reflexiones.
February 11, 2021
Me ha gustado, pero me han sabido a poco sus 100 páginas.
Read
February 26, 2025El pensamiento de Ursula K Le Guin es muy interesante y político. Me gustó mucho conocer qué pensaba sobre ciertas cosas.
Mención aparte para la edición del libro que es increíble. Hay muchas referencias a la obra de Le Guin, a artículos y entrevistas y ponen fragmentos de esos textos en el libro para darte contexto. Me encantó.
Mención aparte para la edición del libro que es increíble. Hay muchas referencias a la obra de Le Guin, a artículos y entrevistas y ponen fragmentos de esos textos en el libro para darte contexto. Me encantó.
December 28, 2024
İnanılmazdı! Le Guin her ne kadar kurgu dışı eserler üretmek konusundaki tereddütlerini mütemadiyen belirtse de, açıkçası onun fikirlerini ve hayata bakışını okumak, romanlarını okumaktan çok daha büyük bir keyif veriyor bana. Deneyimlerinden damıttığı bu bakış açısını, edebiyata dair özgün, güçlü ve feminist duruşunu öyle incelikli bir biçimde ifade ediyor ki, her cümlesi, yepyeni bir tartışmaya ve uzun bir düşünme sürecine gebe. Hayatımın oldukça sancılı bir döneminde bana nefes aldırdı şu sözler: "Hangi soruların cevaplanamaz olduğunu öğrenmek ve onları cevaplamamak. Gerilim ve karanlık dönemlerinde en gerekli yetenek bu." İyi ki dünyada bazı insanlar, evlerini çevrelerinde kelimeler aracılığıyla sürekli yeniden inşa ediyorlar.
October 14, 2023
Pues da gusto leer a esta mujer - o leer cómo habla, mejor dicho -
Que estimulante es. Me han dado ganas de reencontrarme con la ficción, el lugar reservado a lo improductivo, la infancia, el no-entendimiento. Lo que no sirve, el paso necesario para después encontrarse con las letras lógicas, llenas de sentido y de realidad. Cómo si acaso no fuera todo una ficción... la ficción de la ficción, ¿no es eso lo real?
Como bien dice Úrsula "el lenguaje es extraño" y encontrarla es una nueva forma de re-generarlo, destruirlo, seguir usándolo para elaborar de nuevo imágenes... poesía, ficción, erosión de la literalidad para poder comprender
pd: se me ha echo un poco corto, eso sí!
Que estimulante es. Me han dado ganas de reencontrarme con la ficción, el lugar reservado a lo improductivo, la infancia, el no-entendimiento. Lo que no sirve, el paso necesario para después encontrarse con las letras lógicas, llenas de sentido y de realidad. Cómo si acaso no fuera todo una ficción... la ficción de la ficción, ¿no es eso lo real?
Como bien dice Úrsula "el lenguaje es extraño" y encontrarla es una nueva forma de re-generarlo, destruirlo, seguir usándolo para elaborar de nuevo imágenes... poesía, ficción, erosión de la literalidad para poder comprender
pd: se me ha echo un poco corto, eso sí!
July 27, 2020
Hermoso en todo sentido. Un libro al que valdrá la pena volver muchas veces en el futuro <3
January 11, 2025
When I picked this up at the library somewhat randomly, I did not know that she would spend almost the whole time gushing over Virginia Woolf. Sometimes the best things in life are unexpected. This may just glue my thesis together, we’ll see.
One star off because I would have rather directly heard from LeGuin than the interview style. I will definitely be reading her other books on writing though.
One star off because I would have rather directly heard from LeGuin than the interview style. I will definitely be reading her other books on writing though.
November 12, 2018
A window into the contemplative mind of one of the most important contemporary authors, irrespective of genre, and a reminder of the invaluable literary jewel we recently lost.
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