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Madeleine L'Engle

@tesserwell.bsky.social
784 followers 56 following 341 posts

Madeleine L'Engle (1918-2007), author of more than 60 books, including the classic A WRINKLE IN TIME. Curated by granddaughter/executor Charlotte Jones Voiklis

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Madeleine L'Engle @tesserwell.bsky.social · 14h
Children...have no problem in understanding how Alice could walk through the mirror into the country on the other side; some of them have done it themselves. And they all understand princesses of course. Haven't they all been badly bruised by peas? ~A Circle of Quiet
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Madeleine L'Engle @tesserwell.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
If you're going to care about the fall of the sparrow, you can't pick and choose who's going to be the sparrow. It's everybody, and you're stuck with it. ~The Arm of the Starfish
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Madeleine L'Engle @tesserwell.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
We are hurt; we are lonely; and we turn to music or words, and as compensation beyond all price we are given glimpses of the world on the other side of time and space. —Walking on Water
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Madeleine L'Engle @tesserwell.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
"L’Engle’s female protagonists were not beautiful, and they were not always likeable. As with the temperamental Meg Murry in A Wrinkle in Time, they were often deeply flawed. But they were loved." ~Tara Henley for The Walrus thewalrus.ca/madeleine-le...
thewalrus.ca
Madeleine L’Engle Taught Me the Universe Has Meaning | The Walrus
The Wrinkle in Time author shaped my ideas on nearly everything, from family to illness
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Madeleine L'Engle @tesserwell.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Our truest response to the irrationality of the world is to paint or sing or write, for only in such response do we find truth. —The Rock That Is Higher
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Madeleine L'Engle @tesserwell.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
I don’t always want freedom. I want security. I want comfort. I want nothing to go wrong, nobody I love to be hurt, to disappoint me. But that is not what Jesus offered. —Bright Evening Star
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Madeleine L'Engle @tesserwell.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
“We human beings grow through our failures, not our virtues.” Certain Women
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Madeleine L'Engle @tesserwell.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
~The Crosswicks Journals~ In this series of memoirs, Madeleine L’Engle shares her thinking about creativity, family, and faith. A Circle of Quiet, The Summer of the Great-Grandmother, The Irrational Season, and Two-Part Invention
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Madeleine L'Engle @tesserwell.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Whether a story is to be marketed for grownups or for children, the writer writes for himself, out of his own need, otherwise the story will lack reality. —Walking on Water
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Madeleine L'Engle @tesserwell.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Poetry, at least the kind I write, is written out of immediate need; it is written out of pain, joy, and experience too great to be borne until it is ordered into words. The Ordering of Love
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Madeleine L'Engle @tesserwell.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
“This book shows that it’s truly meaningful to engage with the deep mysteries of the world as opposed to just the day-to-day ups and downs,” said Derek Kimball, a professor of physics at Cal State East Bay in Hayward, California. ~Allison Eck for PBS Nova pbs.org/wgbh/nova/ar...
pbs.org
This Article Arrived To You Via Tesseract
The book "A Wrinkle in Time"—and presumably the movie—is laced with science, but is it accurate?
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Madeleine L'Engle @tesserwell.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
“Give us this day our daily bread.” Not mine, but ours – everybody’s. Our responsibility to the starving world is implicit in that sentence. As long as any part of the body is hungry, the entire body knows starvation. The Rock that is Higher
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Madeleine L'Engle @tesserwell.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
This is always the instruction I give at writers’ workshops: “Don’t think. Write.” And I put a time limit to the assignments…It’s a lot easier to write without thinking if there’s a time limit. The Rock That Is Higher
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Madeleine L'Engle @tesserwell.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Again Mrs Which’s voice reverberated through the cave. “Therre willl nno llonggerr bee sso manyy pplleasanntt thinggss too llookk att iff rressponssible ppeoplle ddo nnott ddoo ssomethingg abboutt thee unnppleassanntt oness.” #NationalVoterRegistrationDay #VoteReady #RegisterToVote
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Madeleine L'Engle @tesserwell.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
“Anyone who has worried about being an early or late bloomer knows the cultural pressure to develop on time...Those who feel out of sync with their peers will likely identify with Meg.” ~Kaitlyn Teer for JSTOR Daily daily.jstor.org/what-time-wr...
daily.jstor.org
What Time is it When You Pass Through A Wrinkle in Time? - JSTOR Daily
Do we need two distinct conceptions of time, chronos (clock time) vs. kairos (real time), to understand Madeleine L’Engle’s classic novel?
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Madeleine L'Engle @tesserwell.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
If I affirm that the universe was created by a power of love, and that all creation is good, I am not proclaiming safety. Safety was never part of the promise. Creativity, yes; safety, no. And It Was Good
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Madeleine L'Engle @tesserwell.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Writers, if their vocabulary is not leashed, are quick to see injustice, and rouse the people to do something about it. The Irrational Season
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Madeleine L'Engle @tesserwell.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
“As I child, I knew Meg was the main character, and I was glad she wasn’t perfect. Meg is on a mission to rescue her parents...Her plight makes her the every-child and her shortcomings make her Meg.” ~Ryan Britt for Reactor reactormag.com/why-a-wrinkl...
reactormag.com
Why A Wrinkle in Time Should be Read Out Loud - Reactor
If I said A Wrinkle in Time was the first book my mother read to me out loud, I would be a lying. There would have been the Maurice Sendaks, the Dr. Seusses, the early Chris Van Alsburgs, not to…
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Madeleine L'Engle @tesserwell.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
I wrote A Wrinkle in Time as a hymn of praise to God, so I must let it stand as it is and not be fearful when it is misunderstood. The Rock that is Higher
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Madeleine L'Engle @tesserwell.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
When I write, I realized, I do not think, I write. If I think when I am writing, it doesn’t work. I can think before I write; I can think after I write; but when I am actually writing, what I do is write. The Rock that is Higher
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Madeleine L'Engle @tesserwell.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
“In these short stories, as well as in her other works, L’Engle’s characters come first. What they do is primarily relevant in that it sheds light on who they are, and on who they’re becoming.” ~Emma Boggs for the Rumpus therumpus.net/2021/05/05/t...
therumpus.net
Illuminating the Darkness: Madeleine L’Engle’s The Moment of Tenderness - The Rumpus
For anyone looking for some truth and tenderness amidst a still-trying time, look no further.
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Madeleine L'Engle @tesserwell.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
If my religion is true, it will stand up to all my questioning; there is no need to fear. But if it is not true...then I want to be open to God, not to what man says about God. I want to be open to revelation, to new life, to new birth, to new light. ~Walking on Water
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Madeleine L'Engle @tesserwell.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
The best teachers of writing are the great writers themselves. If we read enough, certain truths become self-evident. There are certain things the great writers always do, and certain things they never do, and a proper study of their works will show us what these are. ~The Rock that is Higher
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Madeleine L'Engle @tesserwell.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
“I still remember the feeling of exhilaration as I read her. The feeling that ideas were being stuffed into my brain faster than I could process them.” ~Leah Schnelback for Tor www.tor.com/2021/11/29/c...
tor.com
Celebrating the Sheer Weirdness of Madeleine L’Engle - Reactor
Madeleine L’Engle was my first sci-fi. Maybe also my first fantasy. I read her before Lewis, Tolkien, Adams, Bradbury. I was 11 when I read A Wrinkle in Time, and I quickly burned through all the…
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Madeleine L'Engle @tesserwell.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
Affluence tends to bring with it a stupor, a flatulence of spirit. It is difficult to laugh freely as long as we are clutching all that we have accumulated and are afraid to lose. ~The Irrational Season
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Madeleine L'Engle @tesserwell.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
When I teach a writers’ workshop, all I can teach are techniques. One cannot teach “creative writing.” Such writing is a gift, but the gift cannot be served unless the techniques have been learned thoroughly enough to become instinctive. ~The Rock that is Higher
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Madeleine L'Engle @tesserwell.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
"For pastors and others who work in faith traditions this is an excellent resource to have on your shelf, and for those who work with those in grief I highly recommend L’Engle’s Sonnets." ~Hannah Bergstrom de Leon www.thebookwar.com/the-ordering...
thebookwar.com
The Ordering of Love by Madeleine L’Engle
– It’s Okay Poetry has the ability to transport a reader into the heart of the author, a situation or experience and Madeleine L’Engle in…
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Madeleine L'Engle @tesserwell.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
Creative scientists and saints expect revelation and do not fear it. Neither do children. But as we grow up and we are hurt, we learn not to trust, and that lack of trust is a wound as grievous as whatever caused it. ~Walking on Water
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Madeleine L'Engle @tesserwell.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
We are never satisfied with what we have done. We know that our best is never adequate. If I had to be satisfied with what I have written I’d still be on my first novel. But I wrote what was for me the best book I could write at that moment in time. ~Madeleine L'Engle Herself
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Madeleine L'Engle @tesserwell.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
"Do I Dare Disturb the Universe?" is Madeleine L'Engle's spirited defense of the responsibility of children's literature to confront difficult questions, as she did in all her work, particularly her masterpiece A Wrinkle in Time. us.macmillan.com/books/978146...
us.macmillan.com
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Madeleine L'Engle @tesserwell.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
It's a good thing to have all the props pulled out from under us occasionally. It gives us some sense of what is rock under our feet, and what is sand. ~The Summer of the Great Grandmother
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Madeleine L'Engle @tesserwell.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
The great writer does not tell us what ought to be done, or what we think. The true writer shows us what is done, avoiding author’s comment. ~The Rock that is Higher
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Madeleine L'Engle @tesserwell.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
"A big-budget TV show could walk viewers a little more carefully and slowly through the events of L'Engle's novel, more openly discussing its themes of religion and feminism." –Witney Seibold for Slash Film www.slashfilm.com/2207303/sci-...
slashfilm.com
5 Sci-Fi Books That Deserve A Big Budget TV Adaptation - SlashFilm
There are plenty of science-fiction books that would make for incredible TV adaptations, so here are five that need to be adapted.
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Madeleine L'Engle @tesserwell.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
We all tend to make zealous judgements and thereby close ourselves off from revelation. If we feel that we already know something in its totality, then we fail to keep our ears and eyes open to that which may expand or even change that which we so zealously think we know. ~Walking on Water
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Madeleine L'Engle @tesserwell.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
Why we shudder at the violence in fairy tales rather than the violence of everyday life at the end of this century is beyond me. —The Rock That Is Higher
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Madeleine L'Engle @tesserwell.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
ICYMI: “Children already know fear, grief, and uncertainty; they don’t need to be shielded from these realities. They need stories that help them navigate them.” Charlotte Jones Voiklis for Nonprofit Quarterly nonprofitquarterly.org/madeleine-le...
nonprofitquarterly.org
Madeleine L’Engle’s Books Were Never Meant to Be “Safe” | Nonprofit Quarterly | Civic News. Empowering Nonprofits. Advancing Justice.
The granddaughter of beloved writer Madeleine L’Engle, author of one of the most banned books of the last 60 years, advocates that books should build courage, not keep us “safe.”
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Madeleine L'Engle @tesserwell.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
“We hold these truths to be self-evident!” she shouted, “that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
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Madeleine L'Engle @tesserwell.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
The painters and writers who see the abuse and misuse of freedom and cry out for justice for the helpless poor, the defenseless old, give me more hope; as long as anybody cares, all is not lost. Walking on Water
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Madeleine L'Engle @tesserwell.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
“We knew that she always wanted to be a writer, but we didn’t know just how ambitious she was. You will see in her earnest journal entries that she put her heart and soul into that yearning for success and recognition.” Léna Roy, Madeleine’s granddaughter www.slj.com/story/some-t...
slj.com
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Madeleine L'Engle @tesserwell.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
All art is cosmos, cosmos found within chaos… Walking on Water
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Madeleine L'Engle @tesserwell.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
“A Sign for a Sparrow,” set 150 years after the Atomic Age, opens on the radioactive wasteland of a flickering-green Earth. The main character receives orders to leave his young family & join an expedition through time & space in search of an inhabitable planet.” www.vanityfair.com/style/2020/0...
vanityfair.com
How a Pandemic and Nuclear Threats Shaped Madeleine L’Engle’s Writing and Worldview
The Wrinkle in Time author was born during the 1918 flu pandemic and parented young kids through threats of nuclear war. A posthumous collection, The Moment of Tenderness shows the ways…
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Madeleine L'Engle @tesserwell.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
If our vocabulary dwindles to a few shopworn words, we are setting ourselves up for takeover by a dictator. When language becomes exhausted, our freedom dwindles—we cannot think; we do not recognize danger; injustice strikes us as no more than “the way things are.” Walking on Water
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Madeleine L'Engle @tesserwell.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
If someone handed you a book by Madeleine L'Engle at exactly the right moment, this is for you. madeleinelengle.com has been refreshed and reorganized. More of her work, her words, and her world all in one place. Tag a reader who would love this. ↓ illus by Adelina Lirius
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Madeleine L'Engle @tesserwell.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
“There's an exchange near the beginning of the book when Meg and her mother are talking. And her mother says, just because we don't understand doesn't mean that the explanation doesn't exist.” ~Laura Kwerel for All Things Considered www.npr.org/2018/03/06/5...
npr.org
How A Budding Astronomer Found Her Universe In 'A Wrinkle In Time'
Before it became a Disney movie, A Wrinkle In Time was a book that inspired generations of readers. One of them was an 8-year-old who loved that the hero was a science-loving girl who didn't fit in.
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Madeleine L'Engle @tesserwell.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
The fairy tale reveals a truly nonsexist world, because we are all, male and female, both the younger son and the true princess—as well as the monster we’d rather not recognize. The Rock that is Higher
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Madeleine L'Engle @tesserwell.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
Hate, it appears to me, is the heresy.
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Madeleine L'Engle @tesserwell.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
"The first people a dictator puts in jail...are the writers, the teachers, the librarians—because these people are dangerous. They...recognize injustice & speak out loudly about it. Let us have the courage to go on being dangerous people."
themarginalian.org
Dare to Disturb the Universe: Madeleine L’Engle on Creativity, Censorship, Writing, and the Duty of Children’s Books
“We find what we are looking for. If we are looking for life and love and openness and growth, we are likely to find them. If we are looking for witchcraft and evil, we’ll likely find them, a…
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Madeleine L'Engle @tesserwell.bsky.social · 31/05/2026
“Maybe you have to know the darkness before you can appreciate the light.” ~ A Ring of Endless Light
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Madeleine L'Engle @tesserwell.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
What do I mean by creators? Not only artists, whose acts of creation are the obvious ones...Creativity is a way of living life, no matter what our vocation or how we earn our living. Creativity is not limited to the arts or having some kind of important career. ~Walking on Water
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Madeleine L'Engle @tesserwell.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
“With natural dialogue and good characterization, this story of an intelligent, lifelike family is far superior to the average fare for the early teens.” ―Booklist review of The Moon by Night
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