roseembolism (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
roseembolism) wrote2018-01-25 10:13 pm
roseembolism) wrote2018-01-25 10:13 pm
Ursula K LeGuin, RIP
I sat at work and cried when I heard the news. It was like losing a family friend- I've read her for 40 years. So what can I say about someone so vital?
What immediately comes to mind is this: she was the one they weren't able to erase. She was the one whose writing could not be suppressed.
How talented and powerful was she? Well, let's put it this way. Periodically guys will put out "Best of SF&F lists." You know, "The Top Writers of SF&F", the "Greats of SF&F", "The Must Reads of SF&F." "The Writers that Defined SF&F".
And here's the thing. Those lists are nearly always 19 male writers, both famous and ones the listmaker wants to be more famous...and Ursula K. LeGuin. Even if they manage to avoid putting any other women writers in these lists, they STILL have to put Ursula K LeGuin on the list. She forced even the misogynistic list makers to acknowledge her. THEY COULD NOT ERASE HER.
She wasn't the only woman to be a success at writing SF&F or Anthropology, and she would be be the last person to want to be considered a unique unicorn in that regard. so as a tribute to her, here's some other wen who were successes at SF&F:
CL Moore, Andre Norton, CJ Cherryh, Connie Willis, Diana Wynne Jones, HM Hoover, James Yolen, Margaret Atwood, L. M. Bujuld, Nnedi Okorafor, Charlie Jane Anders, Cat Valente, Tanya Huff, Leigh Brackett, Joanna Russell, Joan D. Vinge, Octavia Butler, Patricia McKillip, Octavia Butler, Madeline L’Engle, Jo Walton, Anne Leckie, Tanith Lee, Mary Stewart, Elizabeth Moon, J.K. Rowling, Emma Bull, Suzanne Collins, Naomi Novick, Robin McKinley, NK Jemison James Tiptree Jr., Susanna Clarke, Linda Nagata, PD James, Jessica Salmonson, Kameron Hurley, Rosemary Kirstein, Vonda McIntyre, Patricia Wrede, Ru Emerson, Martha Wells, and so many more.
She wasn't alone, she'll never be alone. But the listmakers have never managed to suppress her writing, or diminish her brilliance. Even beyond her writing, her influence lasts in the writings of the authors who follow her, and acknowledge her influence.
She's influencing me still. She always will.
May she never be forgotten.
What immediately comes to mind is this: she was the one they weren't able to erase. She was the one whose writing could not be suppressed.
How talented and powerful was she? Well, let's put it this way. Periodically guys will put out "Best of SF&F lists." You know, "The Top Writers of SF&F", the "Greats of SF&F", "The Must Reads of SF&F." "The Writers that Defined SF&F".
And here's the thing. Those lists are nearly always 19 male writers, both famous and ones the listmaker wants to be more famous...and Ursula K. LeGuin. Even if they manage to avoid putting any other women writers in these lists, they STILL have to put Ursula K LeGuin on the list. She forced even the misogynistic list makers to acknowledge her. THEY COULD NOT ERASE HER.
She wasn't the only woman to be a success at writing SF&F or Anthropology, and she would be be the last person to want to be considered a unique unicorn in that regard. so as a tribute to her, here's some other wen who were successes at SF&F:
CL Moore, Andre Norton, CJ Cherryh, Connie Willis, Diana Wynne Jones, HM Hoover, James Yolen, Margaret Atwood, L. M. Bujuld, Nnedi Okorafor, Charlie Jane Anders, Cat Valente, Tanya Huff, Leigh Brackett, Joanna Russell, Joan D. Vinge, Octavia Butler, Patricia McKillip, Octavia Butler, Madeline L’Engle, Jo Walton, Anne Leckie, Tanith Lee, Mary Stewart, Elizabeth Moon, J.K. Rowling, Emma Bull, Suzanne Collins, Naomi Novick, Robin McKinley, NK Jemison James Tiptree Jr., Susanna Clarke, Linda Nagata, PD James, Jessica Salmonson, Kameron Hurley, Rosemary Kirstein, Vonda McIntyre, Patricia Wrede, Ru Emerson, Martha Wells, and so many more.
She wasn't alone, she'll never be alone. But the listmakers have never managed to suppress her writing, or diminish her brilliance. Even beyond her writing, her influence lasts in the writings of the authors who follow her, and acknowledge her influence.
She's influencing me still. She always will.
May she never be forgotten.
no subject
What's potentially problematic about the content? I'm now imagining MRAs complaining about this, which I hope isn't happening in DW very much.
no subject
No, I'm not concerned about MRAs- that's something weird with my account.
When I check with a different browser I hadn't logged into, I saw it the first time, but not the second. I need to thoroughly double-check my settings.