Tag Archives: Ursala K. Le Guin

Why Are Americans Afraid of Dragons?

Posted on January 11, 2026 by Brian D. Butler

“In wondering why Americans are afraid of dragons, I began to realize that a great many Americans are not only anti-fantasy, but altogether anti-fiction. We tend, as a people, to look upon all works of the imagination either as suspect … Continue reading →

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“Once upon a time there was a dragon,”

Posted on July 1, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

For fantasy is true, of course. It isn’t factual, but it is true. Children know that. Adults know it too, and that is precisely why many of them are afraid of fantasy. They know that its truth challenges, even threatens, … Continue reading →

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Nobody can explain a dragon

Posted on May 21, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

So these are reports of my explorations and discoveries: tales from Earthsea for those who have liked or think they might like the place, and who are willing to accept these hypotheses: things change: authors and wizards are not always … Continue reading →

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Reading is a means of listening

Posted on April 15, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

Reading is not as passive as hearing or viewing. It’s an act: you do it. You read at your pace, your own speed, not the ceaseless, incoherent, gabbling, shouting rush of the media. You take in what you can and … Continue reading →

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One reader can make a difference

Posted on March 8, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

The Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction, now in its fourth year, is an annual $25,000 cash prize given to a writer for a single work of imaginative fiction. The award recognizes writers Ursula spoke of in her 2014 … Continue reading →

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et cetera

Posted on February 8, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

It was W.H. Auden who said: ‘there are good books which are only for adults, because their comprehension presupposes adult experiences, but there are no good books which are only for children.’ The great discipline of children’s fiction is that it has … Continue reading →

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Time is being

Posted on January 1, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

hymn to time :: Ursula K. Le Guin Time says “Let there be” every moment and instantly there is space and the radiance of each bright galaxy. And eyes beholding radiance. And the gnats’ flickering dance. And the seas’ expanse. … Continue reading →

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It’s all one thing

Posted on September 13, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

HYMN TO TIME by Ursula K. Le Guin Time says “Let there be” every moment and instantly there is space and the radiance of each bright galaxy. And eyes beholding radiance. And the gnats’ flickering dance. And the seas’ expanse. … Continue reading →

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“The book itself is a curious artifact”

Posted on January 9, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

Regular visitors to Travel Between the Pages will have noted that I am a life-long fan of the late, great American author Ursala K. Le Guin. Although she is best remembered for her groundbreaking speculative fiction, Le Guin was a … Continue reading →

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Hymn to Time

Posted on December 31, 2022 by Brian D. Butler

HYMN TO TIME by Ursula K. Le Guin Time says “Let there be” every moment and instantly there is space and the radiance of each bright galaxy. And eyes beholding radiance. And the gnats’ flickering dance. And the seas’ expanse. … Continue reading →

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