Hugh Lupton is a British storyteller, one of the most prominent figures in the tradition of oral storytelling.

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 (1884–1967) whom, as a boy, he often visited. Lupton can recall hearing his great uncle's classic children's stories set in Norfolk and the Lake District. "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. He studied to become a teacher in Norwich. As of 2013 he was based at Spratt's Green near Aylsham. Lupton co-founded the Company of Storytellers (with Ben Haggarty 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 and Odyssey, 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

Lupton and the Welsh storyteller Daniel Morden have written several volumes retelling ancient Greek stories.

Awards

Lupton won the "Hodja Cup" (named for the Mulla Nasreddin: "The truth is something I have never spoken.") at The Crick Crack Club's renowned Grand Lying Contest in 2010.