Madeleine L’Engle

Note: Julia Santha, Assistant Director for our upcoming production of A Wrinkle in Time, prepared this biography of author Madeleine L’Engle.

Madeleine_lengleMadeleine L’Engle, beloved author of A Wrinkle in Time and more than 60 other books, librarian, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother, was born on November 29, 1918. L’Engle spent her early childhood in busy New York City, preferring to write stories and poetry in school rather than focus on her lessons. Although her teachers pushed her to conform, from a young age L’Engle was compelled to write and follow inspiration, rather than the rules of others—somewhat like our protagonist, Meg Murry. At the age of 12, L’Engle and her family moved to the French Alps, where she attended an English boarding school. There, her love for writing was first formally encouraged. Years later, armed with journals full of stories and a mature sense of confidence, L’Engle enrolled in Smith College, where she studied English, focusing on classics and her creative writing. After graduating with honors, L’Engle returned to New York, to work as an actress and continue her writing.

In her early years, while living in a studio apartment in Greenwich Village and supporting herself on an actor’s salary, L’Engle published her first two books, met her husband, fellow actor Hugh Franklin, and gave birth to her first daughter. Eventually, the family moved to Connecticut, settling in a tiny farm village. There, L’Engle enjoyed solitude and the village community. She and Hugh had two more children and together the family revitalized an old general store that became a humming village center. It was during these years that L’Engle wrote A Wrinkle in Time. At first, L’Engle struggled to have her novel published, as editors warned her that it was too mature for children, but not quite a book for adults. But L’Engle would not change her work, declaring that it was a novel for and about people, adults and children alike. Wrinkle was finally published in 1962 and garnered immediate success, winning the prestigious Newbery Award “for the most distinguished contribution to American Literature for children” in 1963.

After years in the peaceful countryside, L’Engle and her family returned to New York. There, L’Engle became the writer-in-residence and librarian at the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, where she would maintain an open office for 30 years. L’Engle continued writing, lecturing, and serving as a librarian and mentor in her community until her death in 2007.

A book, too, can be a star, ‘explosive material, capable of stirring up fresh life endlessly,’ a living fire to lighten the darkness, leading out into the expanding universe.” –Newbery Award Acceptance Speech: The Expanding Universe (Aug 1963)