8 Aug 2025

Episode 6.08 - Gardens of Imagination - Narrative Utopias

Let’s niche down into a small sub-genre of fantasy and explore our desire for it, the classic utopia. As Le Guin’s work is utopia, understanding the genre’s tradition, functions, and roles for readers is our final essential piece prior to taking on the story directly.

Some key texts discussed in this episode:

• Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov, 1880


• Lois Lowry, The Giver, 1993


• Thomas More, Utopia, 1516


• Edward Bellamy, Looking Backward, 1888


• William Morris, News from Nowhere, 1891


• Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Herland, 1915


• H. G. Wells, Men Like Gods, 1923


• Aldous Huxley, Island, 1962


• B. F. Skinner, Walden II, 1948


• Ursula K. Le Guin, “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas,” 1972


• Marge Piercy, Woman On the Edge of Time, 1976

Categories of Utopia We Discuss:

1. Sincere Utopia


2. Thoughtful Puzzle


3. Thorny Utopia


4. False Utopia


5. Dystopia

New to Literary Nomads? Check out episode 5.00 to find out what we’re all about: https://waywordsstudio.com/podcasts/waywords_podcast/an-introduction-and-irony/

Reading Ahead, Journey 6:

• Ursula K. Le Guin: “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas”: https://archive.org/download/the-ones-who-walk-away-from-omelas-ursula-k-leguin/The%20Ones%20Who%20Walk%20Away%20from%20Omelas%20-%20Ursula%20K%20LeGuin.pdf

Complete Resources: https://waywordsstudio.com/project/le-guin-omelas/

CHAPTERS

00:00     Utopia Unjoined

05:07     Opening Theme

05:40     Utopia and Dystopia as Fantasy

18:41     The Utopia Tradition

26:26     Utopia as Thought Experiment

31:45     From Otium Gardens to Action

34:18     Closing Credits

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Transcript:  https://waywordsstudio.com/general/transcript/6-08-gardens-of-imagination

Have a Question? Literary Nomads Mailbag: https://forms.gle/WKGp1YWrazNZ3TLt8 

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Literary Nomads is the primary program of Waywords Studio (https://waywordsstudio.com). The podcast posts new material each week, with thought-provoking examinations of literature around selected questions or themes and several smaller supplemental episodes in between the larger programs: history, writing, and contemporary applications of ideas.

Visit us for expanded resources for guests and the Waywords community, for other programs and writing, and for opportunities to support our goal to expand reading. Resources available can include full bibliographies of material referenced, full and partial texts, annotated editions, supplemental and expanded episodes, fictional explorations, teaching and learning resources, additional essays, and online courses.

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CREDITS:

Original music by Randon Myles (https://randonmyles.com/)

Chapter headings by Natalie Harrison and Sarah Skaleski

USING THIS WORK:

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. It is open to be used and adapted for all not-for-profit uses with proper attribution.

MLA CITATION:

Chisnell, Steve. “Gardens of Imagination: Narrative Utopias,” Literary Nomads. Waywords Studio, 8 August 2025, https://waywordsstudio.com/project/le-guin-omelas/.