Le Guin became interested in literature quite early. At age 11, she submitted her first story to the magazine
Astounding Science Fiction. It was rejected.
[18] She continued writing but did not attempt to publish for ten years.
[citation needed]
From 1951 to 1961 she wrote five novels, which publishers rejected because they seemed inaccessible.
[11] She also wrote poetry during this time, including
Wild Angels (1975).
[11]
Her earliest writings, some of which she adapted in
Orsinian Tales and
Malafrena, were non-fantastic stories set in the
imaginary country of Orsinia. Searching for a way to express her interests, she returned to her early interest in science fiction; in the early 1960s her work began to be published regularly. One Orsinian Tale was published in the Summer 1961 issue of
The Western Humanities Review and three of her stories appeared in 1962 and 1963 numbers of
Fantastic Stories of Imagination, a monthly edited by
Cele Goldsmith. Goldsmith also edited
Amazing Stories, which ran two of Le Guin's stories in 1964, including the first "
Hainish" story.
[5][19