Award-winning US science fiction and fantasy author Ursula Le Guin has died at the age of 88, as confirmed by her family on her official Twitter page.
It is reported that she died on January 22 at her home in Portland, Oregon, on Monday.
Her verified Twitter account posted a statement on Tuesday evening saying: "The family of Ursula K Le Guin is deeply saddened to announce her peaceful death yesterday afternoon."
Le Guin was born Ursula Kroeber on 21 October 1929 in Berkeley, California. She was educated at Radcliffe College, Massachusetts, and New York's Columbia University, becoming a Fulbright Fellow in 1953. She married historian Charles Le Guin, and the couple had three children, BBC recalls.
Le Guin’s books have sold millions worldwide and won her a number of prestigious accolades, including Hugo and Nebula awards for her 1969 novel The Left Hand of Darkness.
Le Guin was first published in 1959. Her first published novel was Rocannon’s World in 1966, one of many works set in the Hainish Cycle. Two years later, she broke out with A Wizard of Earthsea, a book that was widely regarded as one of her finest and an important text in the genre. The following year she wrote The Left Hand of Darkness, a book that brought her further praise and awards.
In 2014, Le Guin was awarded a lifetime achievement award by the National Book Foundation.
