Name at birth: Ursula Kroeber

Ursula Le Guin was educated at Radcliffe College and Columbia University, and began publishing science fiction stories and novels in 1964. In 1969 Le Guin won the Hugo and Nebula Awards for The Left Hand of Darkness, and in 1974 she won the Hugo and Nebula Awards for The Dispossessed. Also an author of children's books, Le Guin won the National Book Award in 1972 for The Farthest Shore, and has authored several books in the Catwings series.