Hugh Lupton is a British storyteller, one of the most prominent figures in the tradition of oral

storytelling Storytelling is the social and cultural activity of sharing stories, sometimes with improvisation, theatrics or embellishment. Every culture has its own stories or narratives, which are shared as a means of entertainment, education, cultural pre ...

Early life and career

Lupton was born in 1952, the eldest child of Francis G. H. Lupton and Mary Gee/Lupton. He is the great nephew of

Arthur Ransome Arthur Michell Ransome (18 January 1884 – 3 June 1967) was an English author and journalist. He is best known for writing and illustrating the ''Swallows and Amazons'' series of children's books about the school-holiday adventures of childre ...

(1884-1967) whom, as a boy, he often visited. Lupton can recall hearing his great uncle's classic children's stories set in

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

and the

Lake District The Lake District, also known as the Lakes or Lakeland, is a mountainous region in North West England. A popular holiday destination, it is famous for its lakes, forests, and mountains (or ''fells''), and its associations with William Wordswor ...

. "He (Ransome) was very old by then, in his dotage, but I remember him and stories were very important as I grew up." Lupton was born in Cambridgeshire, where there was much family heritage, and educated at the

King's College School, Cambridge King's College School is a coeducational independent preparatory school for children aged 4 to 13 in Cambridge, England, situated on West Road off Grange Road, west of the city centre. It was founded to educate the choristers in the King's ...

. He studied to become a teacher in

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

. As of 2013 he was based at Spratt's Green near

Aylsham Aylsham ( or ) is a historic market town and civil parish on the River Bure in north Norfolk, England, nearly north of Norwich. The river rises near Melton Constable, upstream from Aylsham and continues to Great Yarmouth and the North Sea, ...

. Lupton co-founded the Company of Storytellers (with and Sally Pomme Clayton) in 1985, and for a while ran a branch of The Crick Crack Club in Norfolk. Lupton tells a wide variety of stories, including epics such as ''

Iliad The ''Iliad'' (; grc, Ἰλιάς, Iliás, ; "a poem about Ilium") is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Odysse ...

'' and ''

Odyssey The ''Odyssey'' (; grc, Ὀδύσσεια, Odýsseia, ) is one of two major Ancient Greek literature, ancient Greek Epic poetry, epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by moder ...

'', but also collections of shorter stories such as ''I become part of it (tales from the pre-world)'' and folktales such as ''The Three Snake Leaves (tales from the Grimm Forest)''.

Children's books

* ''Freaky Tales from Far and Wide'' (1999) * ''Norfolk Songline: Walking the Peddars Way'' (2000) * ''The Songs of Birds: Poems and Stories from Many Cultures'' (2000) * ''Tales of Wisdom and Wonder'' (2000), ill. Niamh Sharkey * ''Pirican Pic and Pirican Mor'' (2003) * ''The Gingerbread Man'' (2003) * ''The Story Tree: Tales to Read Aloud'' (2005), ill. Sophie Fatus * ''Riddle Me this: Riddles and Stories to Sharpen Your Wits'' (2007), ill. Sophie Fatus * ''Tales of Mystery and Magic ''(2010), ill. Agnese Baruzzi * ''la voz de los sueñosy otros cuentos''(2003) ;With Daniel Morden Lupton and the Welsh storyteller

Daniel Morden Daniel Morden (born 1964 in Cwmbran) is a Welsh storyteller in the oral tradition and a children's writer. Morden retells traditional stories from various cultures, in particular the Celtic and the ancient Greek. He has performed all over the worl ...

have written several volumes retelling ancient Greek stories. * ''The Adventures of Odysseus'' (2006), illustrated by Christina Balit * ''The Adventures of Achilles'' (2012), ill. Carole Hénaff * ''Theseus and the Minotaur'' (2013), ill. Hénaff * ''Orpheus and Eurydice'' (2013), ill. Hénaff * ''Demeter and Persephone'' (2013), ill. Hénaff * ''Greek Myths: Three Heroic Tales (2017), ill. Carole Hénaff

Awards

Lupton won the "Hodja Cup" (named for the Mulla

Nasreddin Nasreddin () or Nasreddin Hodja (other variants include: Mullah Nasreddin Hooja, Nasruddin Hodja, Mullah Nasruddin, Mullah Nasriddin, Khoja Nasriddin) (1208-1285) is a character in the folklore of the Muslim world from Arabia to Central Asi ...

: ''"The truth is something I have never spoken."'') at The Crick Crack Club's renowned Grand Lying ContestReview by Judith Palmer, ''The Independent'', 6 April 1999. in 2010.

References

External links

*
Lupton at Facebook

Beyond the Border International Storytelling Festival
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lupton, Hugh Living people British storytellers English children's writers People from Cambridgeshire Place of birth missing (living people) People from Broadland (district) 1952 births