When Ursula K. Le Guin died in Portland at the age of 88 in January 2018, she left behind generations of fans, admirers and authors whose own work was influenced by Le Guin’s award-winning imaginative fiction. A documentary celebrating her life, work and impact, “Worlds of Ursula K. Le Guin,” received its U.S. theatrical premiere in Portland in August 2018. Now, the documentary will reach even more viewers as it airs on OPB at 2 p.m. Sunday, August 11.

“Worlds of Ursula K. Le Guin” premiered as an “American Masters” program nationally on PBS on August 2. The 60-minute documentary, by filmmaker Arwen Curry, was made over the course of a decade, with the participation of Le Guin herself.

Others interviewed for the film include members of Le Guin’s family, and such authors as Neil Gaiman, Margaret Atwood, David Mitchell and Michael Chabon. The film features Le Guin and others discussing how her work was initially slotted into the then-underappreciated science fiction/fantasy category, and how it only later received the critical attention it deserved.

Such novels as “The Left Hand of Darkness,” “The Lathe of Heaven” and her “Earthsea” series established Le Guin’s ability to build worlds beyond our own. Le Guin also speaks about how her approach toward speculative fiction, which was dominated by male authors and protagonists when she was starting out, came to evolve.

In addition to tracing Le Guin’s life and career, “Worlds of Ursula K. Le Guin” also shows the author addressing a crowd at the Powell’s City of Books store in downtown Portland, and uses artful animation to bring to visual life passages from Le Guin’s work.

-- Kristi Turnquist

kturnquist@oregonian.com 503-221-8227 @Kristiturnquist

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