The Left Hand of Darkness (1969)

By Ursula LeGuin

by Jonathan Doering 19th September 2025

I first heard of Ursula K LeGuin as a schoolboy in southeast Scotland. Friday morning was when my class made our weekly library choice. I can still see the sunlight streaming in onto the books as well as the posters on the walls, one of which promoted LeGuin’s A Wizard of Earthsea, on which a boy confronts a winged humanoid figure. I confess that the joys of the Doctor Who books distracted me from following up on the powerful tension swirling within myself when I considered that poster.