Madeleine L'Engle delivering her speech to Wilson's graduating class of 1984.

Visited Wilson in May 1984 to give the Commencement Speech

Madeleine L’Engle is the author of A Wrinkle in Time, the Newbery Medal-winning children’s classic, as well as its subsequent sequels and over 40 other works. Her creativity and imagination have inspired children and adults for generations, while posing questions to them about good and evil, individuality, and family. 

Born in New York City in 1918, L’Engle wrote her first story at the age of 5 and seemingly never stopped writing after that. After moving from country to country as a child, she attended Smith College and published her first two works of fiction shortly after graduation. 

Just before she was struck with inspiration for A Wrinkle in Time, L’Engle was nearly determined to give up writing altogether after receiving yet another rejection notice for one of her other works. Even this novel, now regarded as a classic, was rejected more than 30 times before its eventual publication in 1960.

In the following decades, she continued to write for all ages, ranging in topics from fantastical science fiction adventures to autobiographical memoirs. It was her religious beliefs that influenced many of her works, and what caused her to often focus on the message of love and the redemption of all.

In 2004, Madeleine L’Engle won the National Humanities Medal, but was too ill to attend the award ceremony. After her death in 2007, some of her unpublished works were released, as well as a biography written by her granddaughters in 2018. A Wrinkle in Time was turned into a film in 2018, in an attempt at a second adaptation after the 2003 version was poorly received. 

She was invited to Wilson in 1984 to present the Commencement Address. In an inspiring and optimistic speech, she encouraged Wilson graduates to have courage and seek wonder and creativity in life. 

In her closing remarks, she posited, “To be vulnerable means that you put yourself in a position where you quite possibly may be hurt. But when we are not vulnerable, we are not alive. … So take your liberal arts education and your aliveness with you and share it with everybody you meet. That’s what commencement is all about, being born into new life. Rejoice in it.”

Sources:

Wilson Alumnae Quarterly Summer, 1984 Vol. 57, No. 7

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Madeleine-LEngle