Virago snaps up first and only authorised biography of Ursula Le Guin

Virago has pre-empted the first and only authorised biography of acclaimed science and speculative fiction author Ursula K Le Guin. It is written by Julie Phillips. 

Rose Tomaszewska, editorial director at Virago, acquired UK & Commonwealth rights from Will Francis at Janklow & Nesbit on behalf of Melissa Flashman in the US.  

Hearing of an auction to acquire the book in the US, the Virago team acted swiftly to pre-empt it, securing rights ahead of the US, which closed with Thomas Gebremedhin at Doubleday. Publication is slated for 2026. 

Phillips is the award-winning author of James Tiptree, Jr (Picador) and The Baby on the Fire Escape (WW Norton & Co). After Phillips interviewed Le Guin for her biography of Tiptree (the pseudonym of science fiction author Alice B Sheldon), Le Guin invited Phillips to “rescue me from the vultures”. 

Agreeing with Le Guin that the biography should be posthumous, Phillips spoke to her in-depth over several years and frequently visited her at her home in Portland, Oregon. 

Le Guin’s extraordinary success in many genres, from essays to poetry to her acclaimed fiction, including the Earthsea books (HMH / S&S) and The Left Hand of Darkness (Ace Books), won her dozens of prizes, including the Hugo and Nebula awards, and an international readership of millions.

Tomaszewska said: “Ursula K Le Guin holds a profound place in readers’ formative experiences; many of us remember the first time her daring concept of what the world could be turned our own upside down. Speaking to Julie, whose passionate understanding of Le Guin’s writing and character, and the context of ideas and literature that shaped her, gave me a thrilling insight into how exceptional this biography will be, not only for fans of Le Guin’s science fiction but for everyone.”

Phillips added: “Having had the good fortune to interview Ursula K Le Guin and research her life and work over many years, I’m thrilled to be working with two talented editors on her biography. Le Guin may be the most original and far-sighted of American authors, a genre-defying writer who, among other things, gave us new ways to look at gender, ecology and economic justice. She stands out for the breadth of her sympathies and the depth and integrity of her vision. I can only hope to tell a story as full of brilliance, warmth, wisdom and surprises as its subject.”