"Sur" is a short story by the American writer

Ursula K. Le Guin Ursula Kroeber Le Guin (; October 21, 1929 – January 22, 2018) was an American author best known for her works of speculative fiction, including science fiction works set in her Hainish universe, and the '' Earthsea'' fantasy series. She was ...

, first published in ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'' on February 1, 1982. It was included in '' The Compass Rose'', a collection of stories by Le Guin first published in July 1982.. Retrieved February 20, 2019. The subtitle is "A Summary Report of the ''Yelcho'' Expedition to the Antarctic, 1909–1910"; the story describes an expedition to the South Pole by a group of women from South America. The title "Sur" (Spanish "South") may be compared with ''

South South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...

'', the title of

Ernest Shackleton Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton (15 February 1874 – 5 January 1922) was an Anglo-Irish Antarctic explorer who led three British expeditions to the Antarctic. He was one of the principal figures of the period known as the Heroic Age of ...

's account of the Antarctic expedition of 1914–1917.

Story summary

The narrator, a woman in

Lima Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of t ...

, Peru, does not write for publication; this account of her adventure will be kept in a trunk in the attic, to be found by future generations. She was inspired as a child by reading about expeditions to Antarctica, particularly ''The Voyage of the Discovery'', Captain Scott's book about his expedition of 1902–1904. She plans, with several friends, a similar expedition. They find a benefactor, and the nine women, from Peru, Chile, and Argentina, meet in Punta Arenas in Chile in August 1909. They have hired the ''

Yelcho The ''Yelcho'' was built in 1906 by the Scottish firm Geo. Brown and Co. of Greenock, on the River Clyde for towage and cargo service of the Chilean ''Sociedad Ganadera e Industrial Yelcho y Palena'', Puerto Montt. In 1908 she was sold to the Ch ...

'', a steamer commanded by Captain Pardo. They sail to the Ross Sea, and at

Hut Point A hut is a small dwelling, which may be constructed of various local materials. Huts are a type of vernacular architecture because they are built of readily available materials such as wood, snow, ice, stone, grass, palm leaves, branches, hid ...

they visit Captain Scott's hut; not liking the state it is in, they eventually decide to set up camp on the Great Ice Barrier, digging out cubicles in the ice. Grouped into two sledge teams and a support team, they journey south, covering about a day on level ice, and ascending the Florence Nightingale Glacier, as they have named it – shown on maps as the

Beardmore Glacier The Beardmore Glacier in Antarctica is one of the largest valley glaciers in the world, being long and having a width of . It descends about from the Antarctic Plateau to the Ross Ice Shelf and is bordered by the Commonwealth Range of the Queen ...

. They reach the South Pole on 22 December 1909. On returning to base camp, they realize that one of the group, Teresa, is pregnant. A baby girl is delivered, and Teresa names her Rosa – Rosa del Sur (Rose of the South). The ''Yelcho'' returns to their camp as promised, and the group returns home. After the narrator learns of the ''Yelchos role in rescuing Shackleton's men from Elephant Island, she writes to congratulate Captain Pardo, and thank him again. "Never one word has he breathed of our secret. He is a man of honor, Luis Pardo."

Reception

"Sur" won the

Locus Award for Best Short Story The Locus Award for Best Short Story is one of a series of Locus Awards given every year by ''Locus Magazine''. Awards presented in a given year are for works published in the previous calendar year. Originally known as the Locus Award for Best Sho ...

in 1983, and it was nominated for the

Hugo Award for Best Short Story The Hugo Award for Best Short Story is one of the Hugo Awards given each year for science fiction or fantasy stories published or translated into English during the previous calendar year. The short story award is available for works of fiction of ...

in that year.1983 Hugo Awards
The Hugo Awards. Retrieved February 20, 2019.

Francine Prose Francine Prose (born April 1, 1947) is an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and critic. She is a visiting professor of literature at Bard College, and was formerly president of PEN American Center. Life and career Born in Brookl ...

wrote that it was "my favorite story by Ursula K. Le Guin.... "Sur"... typifies what she does best: construct a lightly ironic, playful and more or less fantastic fiction of ideas, with an interest in ... the different methods by which men and women apprehend and respond to the world". Anne K. Kaler argues that the story provides a cleverly coded map for women striving to be professional writers; to illustrate the paths that women writers must take into the tundras ruled by male writers, she uses the devices of disorder, dislocation, and reversal in the journey/journal.Carmean, Karen and Donna Glee Williams, "Ursula K. Le Guin", pp. 771–781, Carl E. Rollyson, ed., ''Notable American Novelists'', Revised Edition, Vol. 2, Pasadena, California: Salem Press, p. 781 (2008).

References

{{reflist 1982 short stories Short stories by Ursula K. Le Guin Antarctica in fiction Works originally published in The New Yorker 1980s science fiction works