The Radical Imagination and Depth Psychology of Ursula K. Le Guin
with David Naimon
Friday, March 19th
6 - 7:30 pm PDT
Event will be hosted online.
A recording of the live salon will also be sent to all registrants within 24 hours.
Ursula K. Le Guin image by Marian Wood Kolisch ©
“Among the many things that made Ursula stand out as a writer, was how she imagined we could live a better future. It’s up to us now, to imagine the world we want, to create the language that reflects it, to honor Ursula by honoring the Earth she has attended to so well.”
When Ursula K. Le Guin passed away unexpectedly in January of 2018, she was in the midst of editing a small book with David Naimon, after the two had previously recorded three live conversations on the craft of writing. This prolific author of science fiction and fantasy, and essays and poetry too, pioneered literature that crossed countless lines, forcing genres themselves to blur. Influenced by and steeped in Taoist philosophy—she also published a translation of the Tao Te Ching—Le Guin rarely saw a binary she couldn’t upend. Whether it was exploring ambisexual or androgynous gender in her novel The Left Hand of Darkness, or the capacity for dreams to enter and alter reality in The Lathe of Heaven, Le Guin was often exploring the in-between realms and the transcendent third.
Ursula K. Le Guin was always pushing against the expected and the known to encourage a more humane world. As David has written, “you could look to her canonical novels, some a half-century old now, that even then were including, in matter-of-fact fashion, not only characters but protagonists who were people of color and women, gender fluid and anticapitalist.”
Throughout her work, in almost every nook and cranny, one can also recognize a profound depth-psychological-mind at work, a person who understood psyche and the unconscious and could play proficiently and joyfully in those realms. Her writing conveys a clear understanding of what happens when humans don’t face their own shadow selves, and what stunning transformation can happen when they do.
In the introduction to their shared work, Ursula K. Le Guin: Conversations on Writing, David Naimon highlights a line of Le Guin’s that profoundly captures this depth psychological resonance and necessity of individuals to acknowledge and face our own shadows. Le Guin wrote, “People who deny the existence of dragons are often eaten by dragons. From within.”
In this 90min salon with David Naimon, writer and host of one the most respected and applauded literary podcast, Between the Covers, we’ll explore Ursula K. Le Guin’s radical imagination and social justice orientation. We’ll have an ear tuned to learning from Le Guin, and David’s experience of her, how we can best apply radical imagination and knowing to own lives and creative work today.
“Any human power can be resisted and changed by human beings. Resistance and change often begin in art. Very often in our art, the art of words.” - ULG
About David Naimon
David Naimon is the host of the literary podcast and broadcast Between the Covers. Known for its long-form conversations with writers of fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, and science fiction and fantasy, Between the Covers has been heralded by The Guardian, Book Riot, The Financial Times and Buzzfeed as a standout resource for both readers and writers. Past guests have included Claudia Rankine, Anthony Doerr, Teju Cole, N.K. Jemisin, Ted Chiang, George Saunders, Carmen Maria Machado and Layli Long Soldier among many others.
Ursula K. Le Guin is the one and only guest to have appeared three times on the show, once each for fiction, poetry, and nonfiction. After their third conversation, which took place not in the radio studio, but in the upstairs writing room of her house, David mentioned that he couldn't imagine what other person he could have done this triptych with, what other writer had a half-century of such deep engagement in all three genres. Ursula, in response, suggested they make a book together, one that built from these three conversations, and which became Ursula K. Le Guin: Conversations on Writing (Tin House Books). Ursula K. Le Guin: Conversations on Writing was a Hugo award finalist and winner of the Locus Award in nonfiction. Naimon's own writing has appeared in Orion, Tin House, AGNI, Boulevard, and Black Warrior Review, among many other places. It has garnered a Pushcart prize, been anthologized in The Best Small Fictions, and cited as notable in Best American Essays and Best American Travel Writing. He has also written the foreword to the upcoming anthology Dispatches from Anarres: Tales from Portland Authors in Tribute to Ursula K. Le Guin, forthcoming this fall from Forest Avenue Press.
Register:
March 19, 2021 - David Naimon, host of "Between the Covers" literary podcast and co-author of "Ursula K. Le Guin: Conversations on Writing" visited the Salome Institute to talk about Le Guin's work, vision for a better world, and radical imagination.
This recording is available to stream but not to download.
Online Attendance: A link for this salon will be emailed to all registrants a day prior. Household members are welcome to join for the single login.
Recordings: A recording will be emailed to all registrants within 24 hours.
Scholarships & Discounts: If finances would prevent you from joining us, please send an email with a short note. No questions asked. We would love for you to be able to join.