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Overview
Ursula K. Le Guin wrote and published “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” in 1973
. It came on the tail end of the Civil Rights Movement as the country was still reeling from divides over the Vietnam War. An exemplar of speculative fiction, “Omelas” explores a fictional utopian city where its residents’ happiness is dependent on one child’s perpetual suffering. A commentary on suffering and injustice at the time, the story won a Locus Award for Best Short Fiction nomination in 1974 and was awarded the Hugo Award for Best Short Story in 1974.
