Mary Graham
BIO
Biography

Mary Graham is an award-winning author, documentary journalist, film historian, and probable poet, with an Arts degree in Twentieth Century Thought (Philosophy, History and Literature) from the University of New Brunswick and two graduate degrees, Journalism from the University of Kings College and Marine Law from the Schulich School of Law at Dalhousie University.

She is an alum of multiple programs at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity and the Gushul Residency in beautiful downtown Blairmore, and has appeared as a feature film specialist on CBC RADIO, ALBERTA VIEWS, GLOBAL TV, POSTMEDIA NETWORK, NATIONAL POST, OTTAWA CITIZEN, CALGARY HERALD and ARTE, the European Culture Channel. 

Her book, A STUNNING BACKDROP: ALBERTA IN THE MOVIES, 1917-1960, was published in October of 2022, launching Bighorn Books, the trade imprint of University of Calgary Press. 

A STUNNING BACKDROP is the unconventional, untold story of Alberta’s film history, defined by the terrible beauty of its pristine landscape, surprisingly important to Hollywood, and recaptured in lost or ignored Indigenous perspectives and stories, with more than 150 film set stills and archival photos of moviemaking and 50 original photos of historic filming locations around the province as they appear today.

It won the 2023 Alberta Book Publishing Awards Regional Book of the Year and a 2022 PUBWEST Bronze Medal for Cover Design. 

In 2015, Mary and more than a dozen Stoney Nakoda Elders from Mini'Thni (Morley) collaborated in the STONEY FILM PROJECT to recapture more than a century of their unrecognized contributions and establish the historic importance of Indigenous nations to film making in Alberta. She was nominated for an Alberta Literary Award for an essay based on that work: THE PLIGHT AND THE POWER OF THE STONEY NAKODA.

The STONEY FILM PROJECT continues today. 

Mary is currently writing a second book, on film making in Alberta after 1960.

#searchthelandfill

 

 

 

ADDRESS
City: Calgary, Province/Territory: Alberta
EMAIL
GENRE
She/her
LANGUAGES
English
PUBLICATIONS
Publications
Title
A Stunning Backdrop: Alberta in the Movies, 1917-1960
Publisher
Bighorn Books (University of Calgary Press)
Year
2022
AWARDS
Awards
Name
ALBERTA BOOK PUBLISHING AWARDS, REGIONAL BOOK OF THE YEAR
Publication
A STUNNING BACKDROP: ALBERTA IN THE MOVIES, 1917-1960
Year
2023
Name
PUBWEST BRONZE MEDAL, COVER DESIGN: Historical/Biographical
Publication
A STUNNING BACKDROP: ALBERTA IN THE MOVIESD, 1917-1960
Year
2022
PUBLIC PRESENTATIONS AND WORKSHOPS
Programs & Interests
Interested in participating Union’s Ontario Writers-in-the-Schools program:
All members are eligible for the Union’s Ontario Writers-in-the-Schools program. Are you interested in participating in this pro
Yes
Interested in participating in the Northern Ontario WITS program:
The Union’s Northern Ontario Writers-in-the-Schools program funds in-person visits to northern Ontario schools when possible. Ar
Yes