Ursula K. Le Guin a visionary writer
whose groundbreaking works redefined science fiction and fantasy. She won numerous prestigious awards, including a National Book Award and multiple Hugo and Nebula Awards, and was even a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Le Guin’s influence extends far beyond genre fiction—her thought-provoking storytelling tackled themes of gender, power, and society, inspiring generations of readers and writers alike.
Did you know that one of her more than twenty science fiction novels is set right here in Portland?
The Lathe of Heaven, first published in 1971 as a series in Amazing Stories magazine, is a dystopian sci-fi masterpiece set in a futuristic version of Portland, Oregon, in the year 2002. In Le Guin’s vision, the city of the future ballooned to a population of three million and is plagued by endless rain. The novel follows George Orr, a man whose dreams have the power to alter reality. As he struggles to control this extraordinary ability, he becomes entangled with a well-meaning but dangerously misguided psychiatrist who tries to reshape the world into a utopia—with unintended and often catastrophic consequences.
For Portlanders, The Lathe of Heaven offers a fascinating, if unsettling, glimpse into a reimagined version of their city. However, fans listening to the audiobook, narrated by George Guidall, may notice some geographic mispronunciations—an amusing quirk for listeners familiar with Portland.
Blue Moon over Thurman Street (1993)
Le Guin herself roots run deep in the city. She spent years walking along Thurman Street from her home in Portland’s Willamette Heights neighborhood. Her home is now a not for profit writers; retreat. Another book based on Portland was seven years in the making, it dovetails her poetry with images taken by photographer Roger Dorband. Their book, Blue Moon Over Thurman Street, is ideal for any lover of Jane Jacobs, the poems and pictures record the street ballet along NW Thurman street in the 1980s, reflects on the gentrification of Slabtown, income and housing inequities capturing a moment of transition in Portland’s evolving identity.