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 narrative, stories, sometimes with improvisation, theatre, theatrics or embellishment. Every culture has its own narratives, which are shared as a means of entertainment, education, cul ...

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 counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

and the

Lake District The Lake District, also known as ''the Lakes'' or ''Lakeland'', is a mountainous region and National parks of the United Kingdom, national park in Cumbria, North West England. It is famous for its landscape, including its lakes, coast, and mou ...

. "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 Private schools in the United Kingdom, private Preparatory school (UK), preparatory school for pupils aged 4 to 13 in Cambridge, England, situated on West Road, Cambridge, West Road off Grange Road, Cam ...

. He studied to become a teacher in

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...

. 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'' (; , ; ) 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 ''Odyssey'', the poem is divided into 24 books and ...

'' and ''

Odyssey The ''Odyssey'' (; ) is one of two major epics of ancient Greek literature attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest surviving works of literature and remains popular with modern audiences. Like the ''Iliad'', the ''Odyssey'' is divi ...

'', 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 wor ...

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 (variants include Mullah Nasreddin Hodja, Nasruddin Hodja, Mullah Nasruddin, Mullah Nasriddin, Khoja Nasriddin, Khaja Nasruddin) (1208–1285) is a character commonly found in the folklores of the Muslim world, ...

: ''"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