General Discussion

HuckleB

(35,773 posts) Fri Nov 21, 2014, 02:50 PM Nov 2014

Ursula K. Le Guin's fiery speech, and the overwhelming reaction to it (full text and video)

http://www.oregonlive.com/movies/index.ssf/2014/11/ursula_k_le_guins_fiery_speech.html#incart_related_stories

"Ursula K. Le Guin's fiery speech at the National Book Awards is generating a big reaction Thursday morning.

"Ursula K. Le Guin Steals the Show" says National Public Radio, which reported that "the crowd went wild," after Le Guin called Amazon "a profiteer" and said it was trying "to punish a publisher for disobedience, and writers threatened by corporate fatwa," a reference to Amazon's pricing dispute with Hachette. "And I see a lot of us, the producers, accepting this — letting commodity profiteers sell us like deodorant."

NPR reported that "you could have ended the evening there and almost everyone would have gone home happy — except for the Amazon contingent, who notably had no comment on Le Guin's speech, or the ribbing they endured throughout the night."

Le Guin was in New York to receive the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters from the National Book Foundation, which administers the National Book Awards. Anyone who thought Le Guin would say a few thank-yous and leave the stage was unaware of her long history of advocacy for women writers, genre fiction, and individual freedom. She has spoken out against Google and Amazon in recent years and seized the moment when given the opportunity to address the elite of American publishing.

..."

Great stuff! Give her the six minutes it takes to watch the video!

Cheers!