Video: Earthsea | What the Original Wizard School Got Right
What are the literary origins of the boy wizard and the wizard school? This video takes us on an adventure through 20th century fantasy literature to explore the roots of this trope, the connection between Lord of the Rings, Earthsea and Harry Potter, and how race, feminism, gay wizards and bi witches feature in this universe.
Michael Simms: Writing Prompt # 8 – Start a file of your favorite short passages
Whenever I need inspiration, I go back to a collection of my favorite poems and prose passages that I keep in an electronic file on my desktop. They consistently remind me why I love writing and reading.
Michael Simms: Orpheus in Hollywood
Michael Chabon hasn’t so much straddled genres as rejuvenated whatever he touches, making literary fiction more engaging and accessible and popular genres less cliched and formulaic.
Ursula K. Le Guin: About Anger
Anger points powerfully to the denial of rights, but the exercise of rights can’t live and thrive on anger. It lives and thrives on the dogged pursuit of justice.
Philip W. Scher: The education of Ursula Le Guin
On Jan. 22, Ursula K. Le Guin died in Portland, Oregon. Since then, much has been written memorializing her genre-defying body of work, her contributions to feminism and science fiction, … Continue reading
Ursula K. Le Guin: On Power, Oppression and Freedom
My country came together in one revolution and was nearly broken by another. The first revolution was a protest against galling, stupid, but relatively mild social and economic exploitation. It … Continue reading
