One of the finest of our modern crop of young fantasy writers, China Miéville, talks to one of our most venerable, the wonderful Ursula Le Guin, who has been writing for adults and children alike (her Earthsea series remains very popular with modern readers, young and old) and as well as spinning innovative, clever, engrossing tales has also accomplished something only the very finest writers manage: she makes the reader think (the classic Left Hand of Darkness is still, for my money, one of the most fascinating novels on perceived gender roles in any genre and one everyone should read. Short, powerful, absorbing). Ursula, bless her, is also, like Dorothy Lessing, an author of huge standing who has no time for those who deride the SF&F genre as somehow a lesser form of writing (her books alone provide more than adequate defence against that ignorant and ill-informed snobbery). The interview is here on the BBC’s Iplayer (tip of the hat to Liam Sharp, via FaceBook, for the link).
Wed, Mar 18, 2009
Books, Interviews