Words Are My Matter Writings on Life and Books
- 6 Nov 2025
- 9781837265084
- £10.99
- 336 pp
- 135×204mm
- 6 Nov 2025
- 9781837265091
- £8.79
- 352 pp
In a few words
A manual for investigating the depth, breadth and importance of contemporary fiction by Ursula K. Le Guin, Words Are My Matter collects one of our foremost literary intellectual’s best writing on literature
In a few words
A manual for investigating the depth, breadth and importance of contemporary fiction by Ursula K. Le Guin, Words Are My Matter collects one of our foremost literary intellectual’s best writing on literature
Splendid. A clarion call for resistance, reminding us that any broken system is fixable, and that the fixing falls on our own participatory hands
Maria Popova
MarginalianStalked by the long shadows of authoritarianism, ecological collapse and perpetual war, [Le Guin’s] writing feels more urgent than ever
Splendid. A clarion call for resistance, reminding us that any broken system is fixable, and that the fixing falls on our own participatory hands
Maria Popova
MarginalianStalked by the long shadows of authoritarianism, ecological collapse and perpetual war, [Le Guin’s] writing feels more urgent than ever
More about
the book
‘One of the literary greats of the twentieth century’ MARGARET ATWOOD
‘A crafter of fierce, focused, fertile dreams’ DAVID MITCHELL
‘A literary icon’ STEPHEN KING
Hard times are coming, when we’ll be wanting the voices of writers who can see alternatives to how we live now, can see through our fear-stricken society and its obsessive technologies 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 . . .
Words Are My Matter is a selection of Ursula K. Le Guin’s best writing on literature, articulating with precision and passion her belief in the social and political value of storytelling – especially in hard times. In doing so, and with her characteristic spirit, Le Guin offers both a glimmer of hope and a set of operating instructions for a life lived with meaning.
More about
the book
‘One of the literary greats of the twentieth century’ MARGARET ATWOOD
‘A crafter of fierce, focused, fertile dreams’ DAVID MITCHELL
‘A literary icon’ STEPHEN KING
Hard times are coming, when we’ll be wanting the voices of writers who can see alternatives to how we live now, can see through our fear-stricken society and its obsessive technologies 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 . . .
Words Are My Matter is a selection of Ursula K. Le Guin’s best writing on literature, articulating with precision and passion her belief in the social and political value of storytelling – especially in hard times. In doing so, and with her characteristic spirit, Le Guin offers both a glimmer of hope and a set of operating instructions for a life lived with meaning.
Here, life and art mix in thoughtful reviews of books alongside strident, witty, original essays and speeches
A brilliant collection [that] showcases one of our foremost public literary intellectuals
[A] generous, edifying and invaluable collection
Praise for Ursula K. Le Guin:
'A literary icon
Stephen King
Here, life and art mix in thoughtful reviews of books alongside strident, witty, original essays and speeches
A brilliant collection [that] showcases one of our foremost public literary intellectuals
[A] generous, edifying and invaluable collection
Praise for Ursula K. Le Guin:
'A literary icon
Stephen King
Ursula K. Le Guin
View profileUrsula Kroeber Le Guin (1929-2018) was a celebrated author whose body of work includes twenty-three novels, twelve volumes of short stories, eleven volumes of poetry, thirteen children’s books, five essay collections, and four works of translation. The breadth and imagination of her work earned her six Nebula Awards, seven Hugo Awards, and SFWA’s Grand Master, along with the PEN/Malamud and many other awards. In 2014 she was awarded the National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, and in 2016 joined the short list of authors to be published in their lifetimes by the Library of America.
ursulakleguin.com
Ursula K. Le Guin
View profileUrsula Kroeber Le Guin (1929-2018) was a celebrated author whose body of work includes twenty-three novels, twelve volumes of short stories, eleven volumes of poetry, thirteen children’s books, five essay collections, and four works of translation. The breadth and imagination of her work earned her six Nebula Awards, seven Hugo Awards, and SFWA’s Grand Master, along with the PEN/Malamud and many other awards. In 2014 she was awarded the National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, and in 2016 joined the short list of authors to be published in their lifetimes by the Library of America.
ursulakleguin.com
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Canongate has acquired Words Are My Matter, a selection of the inimitable Ursula K. Le Guin’s essays, speeches and reviews that all centre on the importance of literature. UK and Commonwealth rights (excluding Canada) were acquired from Cooke McDermid on behalf of Small Beer Press
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