Mrs. Peninnah Schram

Peninnah Schram, internationally known storyteller, teacher, author, and recording artist, is Professor of Speech and Drama at Stern College of Yeshiva University. She travels across the US and other countries as a featured presenter at storytelling festivals, conferences, and as Performing Artist-in-Residence. Vibrantly elegant in her presentations, Peninnah tells Jewish folktales of wisdom and humor, interweaving melody and dialogue. Jane Yolen wrote about her: “When Peninnah Schram tells a story, even the leaves on the trees stop trembling to listen.” Speaking about the power and role of storytelling, Peninnah says: “Since storytelling is a dialogue, shared stories create more understanding; bring people closer together as a community; and serve as a string that binds one heart to another. Peninnah is the author of ten books of Jewish folktales, including Jewish Stories One Generation Tells Another andStories Within Stories: From the Jewish Oral Tradition. Her new illustrated anthology, The Hungry Clothes and Other Jewish Folktales is published by Sterling Publishing (2008). She has also recorded a CD, The Minstrel and the Storyteller (Sefarad Records) with singer/guitarist Gerard Edery. Peninnah is a recipient of the prestigious Covenant Award for Outstanding Jewish Educator (1995) awarded by The Covenant Foundation. In 1999 she received The Circle of Excellence Award from the National Storytelling Network for "a body of work which is nationally recognized as a shining example of quality in the art form of storytelling performance." Peninnah has also been awarded the National Storytelling Network’s 2003 Lifetime Achievement Award "For sustained and exemplary contributions to storytelling in America."