Ursula K. Le Guin is inarguably a seminal author of science fiction, someone who has helped shape the genre, and someone who has influenced scores of today’s writers. Given her status in the SFF writing world, it’s great to hear there’s a new podcast delving into Le Guin’s works through discussions with established authors about how Le Guin has impacted their own work.
This series, called Crafting with Ursula, stems from David Naimon’s long-running Between the Covers podcast. In each episode, Naimon will talk with an author about how specific works of Le Guin have influenced aspects of their own creative process.
The first episode, which is available now, has Becky Chambers (Wayfarers series, A Psalm for the Wild-Built) discussing the craft of creating aliens and alien cultures, something Chambers has beautifully done in her own stories. Chambers and Naimon focus specifically on Le Guin’s The Left Hand of Darkness and “Coming of Age in Karhide,” a short story Le Guin wrote in the same world 25 years after The Left Hand of Darkness came out. In the 76-minute episode, the two get into how these pieces can inform what one should consider when creating a new, alien world, and many other topics as well.
Naimon will release Crafting with Ursula episodes monthly. New guests will be announced as episodes drop, so keep an eye on the Crafting with Ursula feed for more information.
