My Journey as a Teller of Sacred Stories
Mehded Maryam Sinclair, MEd, is an award-winning author, educator, performing artist and master storyteller, now in her fortieth year of honing and sharing her craft. Early in her career, through her performances and her storytelling school, The Serendipity School, she brought classic world folklore, including Homer’s Odyssey and India’s Ramayana, vividly to life. After gratefully embracing Islam, she devoted her energies to the magnificent histories of the Qur’an and the Prophets, bringing them to life for children, families and adults around the world through live performances, books, audio productions, workshops and educational programmes rooted in traditional Islamic scholarship.
Drawing upon her studies of Arabic, the Qur’an, history and archaeology—and close collaboration with respected scholars—Maryam creates immersive experiences that nurture love for Allah and His Messengers, strengthen Islamic identity and deepen family and community bonds.
Her books and audio productions include the award-winning When Wings Expand, Miraculous Happenings in the Year of the Elephant, A Trust of Treasures, The Bowing of the Stars, A Mercy to the Worlds, The Fall of the Tyrant, Take Heed and Scents of Paradise. She has narrated classical Qur’anic stories to thousands of live listeners in the US, the UK, Turkey, Jordan, Pakistan, Malaysia, Australia and New Zealand.
Book MaryamWhat people say
“Maryam Sinclair’s storytelling is uniformly superb, stirring and loved regardless of audience... she holds people spellbound and in tears.”Victor R. SwensonFormer Executive Director, Vermont Council on the Humanities
“Maryam Sinclair’s stories were an inseparable part of my childhood.Shuayb KIstanbul
I am someone whom Allah has blessed to memorize the Quran. To this day, when I recite verses of the stories of Prophet Musa and Yusuf, Umm Ibrahim’s stories that I listened to as a child come to mind and continue to deepen my understanding of the verses... Not only because of the vivid imagery she paints with her gifted storytelling, but also because of how directly she has drawn the details of her stories from the verses of the Quran I am reciting.”
“Listening together to Maryam’s captivating narratives, we are transported to the sacred lands of prophecy and revelation. We are reminded of true virtue, patience, bravery, and steadfastness.”Wajiha BasitSacred Art Workshops
Awards
- Vt Council on the Arts Touring Arts Register 1986
- Vt Council on the Arts Artists in the Schools Register 1986
- Vt Council on the Humanities Fellowship 1990
- Islamic Foundation Writing for Children Competition 2004
- Muslim Writers Association Winner - Unpublished Children’s Story, 2011