Synopses & Reviews
In honor of Madeleine L'Engle's 80th birthday, a host of prominent writers and academics gather to create this unique collection. Madeleine's circle of friends and peers (writers, poets, scholars, theologians) here provide an intimate portrait of L'Engle and respond to her writings and mentoring influence.
Ranging from the personal to the academic, these essays illuminate the many worlds of Madeleine's writings: the private, the reflective, the theological, the scientific, the mythic, and the literary.
Synopsis
Fifteen prominent writers and scholars -- L'Engle's circle of friends and peers -- gather to create this volume to honor Madeleine L'Engle, and to provide an intimate portrait of the writer, her work, and her influence. From personal essays to academic assessments, all the pieces reflect the full body of Madeleine's writings, which include the personal, the reflective, the theological, the scientific, and the literary.
About the Author
Madeleine L'Engle was the author of more than forty-five books for all ages, among them the beloved
A Wrinkle in Time, awarded the Newbery Medal;
A Ring of Endless Light, a Newbery Honor Book;
A Swiftly Tilting Planet, winner of the American Book Award; and the Austin family series of which
Troubling a Star is the fifth book. L'Engle was named the 1998 recipient of the Margaret A. Edwards award, honoring her lifetime contribution in writing for teens.
Ms. L'Engle was born in 1918 in New York City. She wrote her first book, The Small Rain, while touring with Eva Le Gallienne in Uncle Harry. She met Hugh Franklin, to whom she was married until his death in 1986, while they were rehearsing The Cherry Orchard, and they were married on tour during a run of The Joyous Season, starring Ethel Barrymore.
Ms. L'Engle retired from the stage after her marriage, and the Franklins moved to northwest Connecticut and opened a general store. After a decade in Connecticut, the family returned to New York.
After splitting her time between New York City and Connecticut and acting as the librarian and writer-in-residence at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, Madeleine L’Engle died on September 7, 2007 at the age of 88.