With its proximity to the cultural hub of New York City and its quieter suburban and rural landscapes, Connecticut was fertile ground for artists and writers in the period of Modernist movements between 1913 and 1979. Many of these cultural figures are well known through biographical and critical studies. Creative Places seeks to show how place played a significant role in creative work, and how in turn the artists and writers influenced communities in Connecticut.
Madeleine L'Engle
Children's Literature
1918 – 2007
Well known children’s author and author of religious poetry and memoirs.
- Biography/Description of Work
Madeleine L’Engle Camp was born in 1918 in New York City to Charles Wadsworth Camp and Madeleine L’Engle. Her father was a critic, writer, and foreign correspondent, and her mother was a pianist. After attending and graduating from Ashley Hall, a boarding school in South Carolina, L’Engle went to Smith College where she graduated in 1941. She then moved to Greenwich Village in New York City to become an actress. While performing in “The Cherry Orchard,” by Anton Chekhov, L’Engle met her husband, Hugh Franklin, a fellow actor later best remembered for his role as Dr. Charles Tyler on “All My Children.” They married in 1946, and in 1952 moved to a 200-year old farmhouse in Goshen, Connecticut, which they called, Crosswicks. They also purchased a general store in the area. L’Engle’s first novel, “The Small Rain,” was published in 1945, however, her writing career took off after the publication of “A Wrinkle in Time” in 1962. This novel won both the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award and the Newberry Medal. Although “A Wrinkle in Time” was inspired by a cross-country trip she took with her family, many of L’Engle’s novels were inspired by her home in Goshen, including the Austin Family series. After her husband’s death in 1986, L’Engle continued to write until her death in 2007. During her life, she received numerous awards and honors as well as honorary doctorates from colleges and universities such as Trinity College in Hartford and St. Joseph’s College in West Hartford. She was also a librarian and writer-in-residence at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City. The Crosswicks Foundation, which was formed by L’Engle and her husband, created grants to support arts and community-based organizations in New York and northwest Connecticut, and still operates.
- Sources view
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madeleine_L'Engle, http://www.madeleinelengle.com/madeleine-lengle/, http://lengleblog.blogspot.com/
Connecticut Women's Hall of Fame: http://www.cwhf.org/inductees/writers-journalists/madeleine-lengle, Madeleine L'Engle Obituary - New York Times - 2007-9-8 - Associated Resource(s)