About the Author - Initial Research

Ursula Le Guin! I also had her in mind. I've read her short story "The Ones Who Walked Away from Omelas" several times and fell in love with her writing. I've also read The Left Hand of Darkness, which I thought was interesting as it explained quite a lot on what 'science fiction' and 'speculative fiction' was. 

Other books: The Left Hand of Darkness (1969), The Lathe of Heaven (1971)

About herself: 

- She is apparently one of the 2 living authors to have their books published by the Library of America (apparently it is a nonprofit publisher of American classic lit.)

- She has quite a well off family, childhood though grew up during the World War II. It was most likely utter solitude, if at that time she seemed to be living quite well, away from the war zones. Though perhaps this isolation and 'safety' bred her imagination and interest in writing? I may be wrong. 

Her writing:

- she often writes science fiction books. Though I would say that her imagination and story telling is very alluring. In a sense that it is surreal and unimaginable, though it stimulates me to visualize things and think of what ifs and hows. 

- she also covers topics: feminism, environmentalism and anarchy.

Initially, I am not exactly a science fiction person, however when I read The Left Hand of Darkness, it changed my perspective on that genre. Such as her short story, the utopian world of Omelas. Though this eternal happiness is only caused by a single miserable soul. Though it discusses the human mind and how they would get out of the problem, either destroy their own happiness, save that one human or run away? 

Le Guin is more of a speculative fiction writer. She writes a lot about the 'what if's' rather than the future. Which I thought is very interesting as it brings out a lot of discussions. 

However, her concepts are rather abstract and unconventional that made me think twice if I would choose her. I thought that I might be stuck when it comes to visually communicating her work. Though the question is whether I am willing to challenge myself and take the risk?

About the Author - Initial Research

• Ursula Le Guin (Pen name!)

• Lin Yu Tang

• Haruki Murakami  

Tough decision...I knew two of these authors before this brief and have read some of their books. Though I am quite conflicted between choosing an author I am familiar with or take a risk and try someone new? In this case it was Lin Yu Tang.

About himself: 

- Well educated, travels (went to France, Germany and Harvard University) 

- He doesn't simply write books but also make crits and essays. He is also a translator and an inventor!

Known books:

- Moment in Pecking 1938

- The Importance of Living 1937

The Importance of Living (1973)

• I personally never have read any of his books, though as I skimmed through reviews and summaries, I quite like how his work revolves around a few political issues, education, language, art, socio-cultural and the way of living. They are quite heavy topics as well as socially conscious discussions. 

• This book particularly reflects on human happiness and the meaning of life. I personally think that it is quite a difficult concept to grasp in general, much less visualizing it.

• Though what I quite like about his writings is that he somewhat bring together the culture gap between the East and the West!