The Maps of Ursula K. Le Guin Explored in New Exhibition and Book

Ursula K Le Guin began writing each new story by drawing a map and from October 10 The Word for World: The Maps of Ursula K Le Guin will present a selection of these images by her including many which have never been exhibited previously.

Alongside map drawings such as the archipelagos of Earthsea and the talismanic maps of Always Coming Home, the exhibition will feature Le Guin’s original artworks and previously unseen personal archive.

"Le Guin’s maps ground and give life to the worlds in her novels,as well as frame the philosophical questions they raise," said Ingrid Schroder, Director of the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London where the exhibition runs until December 6. "They help reveal her process of thinking through drawing, acting as blueprints for potential and real landscapes, and for the societies that inhabit them. They are at once an act of world-building, a form of deep engagement with land and landscape, and a reflection on our engagement with the planet."

The exhibition coincides with the release of The Word for World, a book edited by So Mayer and Sarah Shin and co-published by Spiral House and AA Publications. The book brings Le Guin’s maps together with poems, stories, interviews, recipes and essays by contributors from a variety of  perspectives to enquire into the relationship between worlds and the imagination.

A Larger Reality: Ursula K. Le Guin, an exhibition with curation led by the author’s son Theo Downes-Le Guin that examines important moments and themes in his mother’s life and oeuvre, runs concurrently from October 31 through February 8, 2026, at Oregon Contemporary in Portland, Oregon. Winter Texts is publishing a book of poems, stories, essays, talks and illustrations by Ursula K  Le Guin with additional essays on Le Guin’s thinking and craft to be released  with the exhibition.