“Heroes are powerful,” writes Ursula K. Le Guin in a 1986 essay. “[B]efore you know it, the men and women in the wild-oat patch and their kids and the skills of the maker and the thoughts of the thoughtful and the songs of the singers are all part of it, have all been pressed into service in the tale of the Hero. But it isn't their story. It’s his.”

Does the hero’s journey, told again and again in our time, really reflect the world we want to live in? Might there be other stories—of growth, cultivation, care, and curiosity—that offer an alternative to the zero-sum game of heroes and villains? 

In this study, join us as we follow Le Guin’s lead in imagining the possibilities of story beyond the limits of the hero’s journey.

Text: Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Carrier Bag of Fiction 

Date: Sunday, July 26th

Location: California Ave Caltrain station, Palo Alto, CA with Erika & Peter

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