Words Are My Matter - Writings on Life and Books

A collection of essays on life and literature, from one of the most iconic authors and astute critics in contemporary letters.

Words Are My Matter is essential reading: a collection of talks, essays, and criticism by Ursula K. Le Guin, a literary legend and unparalleled voice of our social conscience. Here she investigates the depth and breadth of contemporary fiction—including landmark discussions of science fiction and fantasy—and, through the lens of literature, gives us a way of exploring the world around us.

In “Freedom,” Le Guin notes: “Hard times are coming, when we’ll be wanting the voices of writers who can see alternatives to how we live now … to other ways of being, and even imagine real grounds for hope. We’ll need writers who can remember freedom—poets, visionaries—realists of a larger reality.”

Le Guin was one of those authors and in Words Are My Matter she gives us just that: a collection of sharp social commentary and a vision of a better reality, fueled by the power and might and hope of language and literature.

Inside this indispensable collection of literary essays, Le Guin explores:

Writing Craft: Le Guin’s personal reflections on her process, from inventing languages to learning from authors like Virginia Woolf. Literary Criticism: Incisive book reviews and introductions to the works of authors like Philip K. Dick, Stanislaw Lem, and José Saramago. The Role of the Imagination: A passionate defense of imaginative fiction and why we need “realists of a larger reality” now more than ever. Feminist Perspectives: Sharp analysis of gender in literature, the marginalization of women’s writing, and what it means to write as a woman.