Marie Louise Shedlock (1854–1935) was an early and influential practitioner of the art of
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 ...
. She recorded her advice on
oral performance in her book ''The Art of the Story-Teller''.
Biography
Shedlock was born in Boulogne, France of English parents; her father was an engineer helping to build a railroad. Although she lived in England for a short time as a child, she returned to France, and ultimately went to Germany to complete her education.
Shedlock's first job was as a schoolteacher. She taught school in England from age 21. At age 36 she began her career as a storyteller, having a debut performance in London. At age 46 she ceased teaching and began her career as a professional
storyteller. She had two extended and well-received tours in the United States.
Shedlock's first U. S. tour took place around 1900 and lasted seven years. Mary Wright Plummer, director of the
Pratt Institute
Pratt Institute is a private university with its main campus in Brooklyn, New York (state), New York. It has a satellite campus in Manhattan and an extension campus in Utica, New York at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute. The school was ...
Library attended one of her public recitals and invited her to perform.
Anne Carroll Moore
Anne Carroll Moore (July 12, 1871 – January 20, 1961) was an American educator, writer and advocate for children's libraries.
She was named Annie after an aunt, and officially changed her name to Anne in her fifties, to avoid confusion with Ann ...
head of the children's library at Pratt invited Shedlock to return to Pratt and tell stories to children.
Her first American tour lasted seven years. After this first tour, Shedlock returned to London, later writing her two books.
Shedlock's second U. S. tour began in 1915 and ran for five years.
Shedlock died in January 1935.
Influence on others
Anna Cogswell Tyler a student at Pratt heard Shedlock perform and decided to become a professional storyteller herself. Tyler eventually became head of storytelling for the New York Public Library.
Ruth Sawyer
Ruth Sawyer (August 5, 1880 – June 3, 1970) was an American storyteller and a writer of fiction and non-fiction for children and adults. She may be best known as the author of ''Roller Skates'', which won the 1937 Newbery Medal. She received th ...
heard Shedlock reading the tales of
Hans Christian Andersen
Hans Christian Andersen ( , ; 2 April 1805 – 4 August 1875) was a Danish author. Although a prolific writer of plays, travelogues, novels, and poems, he is best remembered for his literary fairy tales.
Andersen's fairy tales, consisti ...
at Columbia University. Sawyer "vowed that day to become a storyteller."
Works
* (1920)
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References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Shedlock, Marie L.
1854 births
1935 deaths
British non-fiction writers
British women writers