Ursula Kroeber Le Guin was an American author. She is best known for her works of speculative fiction, including science fiction works set in her Hainish Universe, and the Earthsea fantasy series. First published in 1959, she had a literary career spanning nearly sixty years, during which she released more than twenty novels and over a hundred short stories, in addition to many volumes of poetry, literary criticism, translations, and children’s books. Frequently described as an “author of science fiction”, Le Guin has said she would prefer to be known as an “American novelist”, and has also been called a “major voice in American Letters“.
“The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” is a 1973 work of short philosophical fiction by American writer Ursula K. Le Guin. With deliberately both vague and vivid descriptions, the narrator depicts a summer festival in the utopian city of Omelas, whose prosperity depends on the perpetual misery of a single child. “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” was nominated for the Locus Award for Best Short Fiction in 1974 and won the Hugo Award for Best Short Story in 1974.