Peninnah Schram, internationally known storyteller, teacher, author, and recording artist, is Professor Emerita of Speech and Drama at Stern College of Yeshiva University. She travels across the US and other countries presenting storytelling programs and workshops for all ages, and scholar/storyteller-in residence weekends.

Peninnah is the author of fourteen books of Jewish folktales, including Jewish Stories One Generation Tells Another and Stories Within Stories: From the Jewish Oral Tradition. Her illustrated book, The Apple Tree’s Discovery, is co-authored with Rachayl Eckstein Davis. Her most recent book, Jewish Stories of Love and Marriage: Folktales, Legends and Letters, (co-authored with Sandy Eisenberg Sasso), was published in 2015. She has also recorded a CD, The Minstrel and the Storyteller, with singer/guitarist Gerard Edery.

Peninnah’s story and essay appear in the anthology, Mitzvah Stories: Seeds for Inspiration and Learning, that was published in her honor.

Peninnah’s biography, Peninnah’s World: A Jewish Life in Stories, authored by Caren Schnur Neile, was recently published by Hamilton Books, an imprint of Rowman & Littlefield, November 2021.

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 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 Storytellers Network 2003 Lifetime Achievement Award "For sustained and exemplary contributions to storytelling in America" and the NSN’s 2017 Talking Leaves Award for her folktale books and essays on the Jewish oral tradition.