WORDSMITH & WANDERER
1/2 Brit and 1/2 Yankee, Elinor Teele has led a peripatetic life.
Born & raised near Boston, Massachusetts, Elinor immigrated with her family to Aotearoa New Zealand in her early teens. Eight years later, Elinor traveled to her mother’s home country for doctoral studies at the University of Cambridge.
When she wasn’t being pursued by hounds, she studied the Old English Riddles—lyrical poems in the language of Beowulf. She earned her Ph.D. in Old English Literature in 2005.
After a career-building stint in New England, living & writing near the historic fishing port of Gloucester, Elinor returned to Aotearoa in 2021 to begin a new adventure.
Her work includes character-driven films & TV projects, daredevil middle grade books with HarperCollins, and plays that push the boundaries of theatre.
Books & Theatre
Her first adventure novel for kids ages 8-12, The Mechanical Mind of John Coggin, received a Kirkus star. Her second novel for kids ages 10-13, The Treasure of Mad Doc Magee, a Junior Library Guild pick, was inspired by the Central Otago Gold Rush.
An occasional actor, Elinor has a lifelong affinity for the stage. Her short plays have been produced in the Boston and North Shore areas of Massachusetts, and her full-length works include dramas & comedies. Working with the Studs Terkel estate, she created and directed Studs Terkel’s American Century, an interactive theatre production that dramatizes verbatim interviews of 20th century Americans.
Film & TV
In the late 2010s, Elinor transitioned into film and TV works. The screenplay for her feature, DILL, was a Daily Reads Selection for the Roxbury International Film Festival and part of her producer’s successful submission to the PGA Create Lab. LONDON SPARROW, her UK TV series, was selected for the Filmarket Hub UK Online Pitchbox and the Birmingham Film & TV Market.
In 2023, she directed a New Zealand short film, PULLING UP STUMPS, starring Ian Mune and Mark Mitchinson, with cinematography by Alun Bollinger NZCS. This was a Stowe Story Labs Short Film Spotlight pick. In 2024, she received a Short Film Otago development grant for her comic short, CENTRAL UNCOVERED.
She is currently in development with Deepti Chawla (Executive Producer: SHAMELESS; Associate Producer: SULTANA’S DREAM), Inflixious Content & Art LLP, on a full-length family animated feature called THE BOG MONSTER and working on a music-driven Melbourne/NZ feature called NEW WORLD SYMPHONY.
Her feature scripts have also earned her a semi-finalist place for a Final Draft Fellowship, a selection for MIFF’s 37ºSouth Market, and participation in the Sidewalk Film Festival Narrative Lab. Dive into stories created by an incurable imagination…
CONSULTANT & CHRONICLER
Transforming creative ideas into measurable results.
To earn her daily bread, Elinor is a content consultant, freelance copywriter, and self-taught photographer at Squam Creative Services.
Over the years, she has helped to create multiple websites and marketing pieces, including a range of higher education projects.
Explore her travel diaries or visit her gallery to view photos of European cities, Aotearoa New Zealand, New England, and far-flung places. Many of her photographs are available for licensing for commercial purposes.