Ursula K. Le Guin Prize

The Ursula K. Le Guin Prize, established in 2022, is an annual, English-language literary award presented in honor of Ursula K. Le Guin. The $25,000 prize is awarded to an author for a single work of "imaginative fiction". The award is meant to honor authors who "can imagine real grounds for hope and see alternatives to how we live now".^[1]^[2]

Eligibility

Books may be nominated for the prize by anyone and will be judged based on how well the work "reflects the concepts and ideas that were central to Ursula's own work, including but not limited to: hope, equity, and freedom; non-violence and alternatives to conflict; and a holistic view of humanity's place in the natural world".^[3]

To be eligible, a book must be a "book-length work of imaginative fiction written by a single author", "[p]ublished in the U.S. in English or in translation to English", and "[p]ublished in the specific window for each year's prize".^[3] After a writer wins the award once, they cannot be nominated for the prize again.^[3]

Additionally, the award "give[s] weight to writers whose access to resources may be limited due to race, gender, age, class or other factors; who are working outside of institutional frameworks like MFA programs; who live outside of cultural centers such as New York; and who have not yet been widely recognized for their work".^[4]

Recipients

^* Winner · ^† Finalist · Shortlist

Ursula K. Le Guin Prize winners and finalists
Year	Author	Title	Ref.
2022	Khadija Abdalla Bajaber*	The House of Rust	^[5]
	Sequoia Nagamatsu^†	How High We Go in the Dark	^[5]
	Catherynne M. Valente^†	The Past Is Red	^[5]
	Cynthia Zhang	After the Dragons	^[6]
	Matt Bell	Appleseed	^[6]
	Adrian Tchaikovsky	Elder Race	^[6]
	Olga Ravn, trans. by Martin Aitken	The Employees	^[6]
	Darcie Little Badger	A Snake Falls to Earth	^[6]
	Michelle Ruiz Keil	Summer in the City of Roses	^[6]
2023	Rebecca Campbell*	Arboreality	^[7]
	Christiane M. Andrews	Wolfish	^[8]
	Nicola Griffith	Spear	^[8]
	Yuri Herrera	Ten Planets	^[8]
	Simon Jimenez	The Spear Cuts Through Water	^[8]
	Zain Khalid	Brother Alive	^[8]
	Akil Kumarasamy	Meet Us by the Roaring Sea	^[8]
	R. B. Lemberg	Geometries of Belonging	^[8]
	Yvette Lisa Ndlovu	Drinking from Graveyard Wells	^[8]
2024	Anne de Marcken*	It Lasts Forever and Then It's Over	^[9]
	Vajra Chandrasekera	The Saint of Bright Doors	^[10]
	Sarah Cypher	The Skin and Its Girl	^[10]
	Samantha Harvey	Orbital	^[10]
	Alissa Hattman	Sift	^[10]
	Alaya Dawn Johnson	The Library of Broken Worlds	^[10]
	Micaiah Johnson	Those Beyond the Wall	^[10]
	Premee Mohamed	The Siege of Burning Grass	^[10]
	Emily Tesh	Some Desperate Glory	^[10]
	Nghi Vo	Mammoths at the Gates	^[10]

References

^ Flood, Allison (October 21, 2021). "Realists of a larger reality wanted: Ursula K Le Guin prize for fiction to launch in 2022". The Guardian.
^ Schaub, Michael (October 21, 2021). "New Fiction Prize Named for Ursula K. Le Guin". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved October 25, 2022.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Ursula K. Le Guin—The Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction". The Ursula K. Le Guin Literary Trust. Retrieved October 25, 2022.
^ "Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction to Launch Next Year". Shelf Awareness. October 21, 2021. Retrieved October 25, 2022.
^ ^a ^b ^c Schaub, Michael (October 25, 2022). "Winner of the Ursula K. Le Guin Prize Is Revealed". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved October 25, 2022.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f "Announcing the Shortlist for the Inaugural Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction". Electric Literature. July 28, 2022. Retrieved October 25, 2022.
^ Armstrong, Vanessa (October 26, 2023). "Rebecca Campbell's Arboreality Wins the 2023 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction". Tor.com. Retrieved November 2, 2023.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Armstrong, Vanessa (July 12, 2023). "Announcing the Shortlist for The Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction!". Tor.com. Retrieved November 2, 2023.
^ "The 2024 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction". October 21, 2024. Retrieved November 12, 2024.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ Armstrong, Vanessa (July 16, 2024). "Here is the Shortlist for the 2024 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction!". Reactor. Retrieved July 17, 2024.

External links

Official website

[guardian-2021-1] Flood, Allison (October 21, 2021). "Realists of a larger reality wanted: Ursula K Le Guin prize for fiction to launch in 2022". The Guardian.

[2] Schaub, Michael (October 21, 2021). "New Fiction Prize Named for Ursula K. Le Guin". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved October 25, 2022.

[:0-3] "Ursula K. Le Guin—The Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction". The Ursula K. Le Guin Literary Trust. Retrieved October 25, 2022.

[4] "Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction to Launch Next Year". Shelf Awareness. October 21, 2021. Retrieved October 25, 2022.

[:1-5] Schaub, Michael (October 25, 2022). "Winner of the Ursula K. Le Guin Prize Is Revealed". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved October 25, 2022.

[:3-6] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f "Announcing the Shortlist for the Inaugural Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction". Electric Literature. July 28, 2022. Retrieved October 25, 2022.

[:5-7] Armstrong, Vanessa (October 26, 2023). "Rebecca Campbell's Arboreality Wins the 2023 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction". Tor.com. Retrieved November 2, 2023.

[:4-8] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Armstrong, Vanessa (July 12, 2023). "Announcing the Shortlist for The Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction!". Tor.com. Retrieved November 2, 2023.

[9] "The 2024 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction". October 21, 2024. Retrieved November 12, 2024.

[:2-10] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ Armstrong, Vanessa (July 16, 2024). "Here is the Shortlist for the 2024 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction!". Reactor. Retrieved July 17, 2024.

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