[1] She attended the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) in the 1960s, and began writing science fiction in order to pay tuition.
She gained a PhD in linguistics, and was the first UCSD student ever to write two dissertations (on English and Navajo).
She created the engineered language Láadan for her Native Tongue science fiction series.
She supported feminist science fiction, saying "women need to realize that SF is the only genre of literature in which it's possible for a writer to explore the question of what this world would be like if you could get rid of [Y], where [Y] is filled in with any of the multitude of real world facts that constrain and oppress women.
Overlying themes in her work include feminism, linguistics and the impact of proper language, and peaceful coexistence with nature.