Ursula K. Le Guin was born in Berkeley, California October 21, 1929. The daughter of anthropologists Alfred L. and Theodora Kroeber, Le Guin attended Radcliffe College, attaining a BA in Renaissance French and Italian Literature in 1951, and Master's in French and Italian literature from Columbia in 1952. Le Guin taught French and has instructed in writing at numerous workshops. In 1953 she married the historian Charles A. Le Guin, and the two have resided in Portland, Oregon since 1958.

She is highly regarded in science fiction and fantasy, receiving Hugo Awards (1970, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1988) and The Gandalf Award (1979), Nebula Awards (1969, 1974, 1974, 1990, 1995), the Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize for fiction (1986), a Pushcart Prize (1991), a National Book Award (1973) for the novel The Farthest Shore (1972), part of Le Guin's Earthsea trilogy, a Newberry Silver Medal (1972), and Harold D. Vursell Award (1991), and a World Fantasy Convention Lifetime Achievement Award (1995).