Mark Blagrave (born 1956) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

writer of plays, short stories, and novels, and a former university professor and administrator. Born in

Niagara-on-the-Lake Niagara-on-the-Lake is a town in Ontario, Canada. It is located on the Niagara Peninsula at the point where the Niagara River meets Lake Ontario, across the river from New York (state), New York, United States. Niagara-on-the-Lake is in the R ...

, Blagrave was raised in

Southern Ontario Southern Ontario is a Region, primary region of the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. It is the most densely populated and southernmost region in Canada, with approximately 13.5 million people, approximately 36% o ...

and

Bermuda Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. Bermuda is an ...

before finishing high school in

Saint John, New Brunswick Saint John () is a port#seaport, seaport city located on the Bay of Fundy in the province of New Brunswick, Canada. It is Canada's oldest Municipal corporation, incorporated city, established by royal charter on May 18, 1785, during the reign ...

. After earning his BA at

Mount Allison University Mount Allison University (also Mount A or MtA) is a Canadian primarily undergraduate liberal arts university located in Sackville, New Brunswick, founded in 1839. Mount Allison was the first university in the British Empire to award a baccal ...

Sackville, New Brunswick Sackville is a former town in southeastern New Brunswick, Canada. It held town status prior to 2023 and is now part of the town of Tantramar, New Brunswick, Tantramar. Sackville is home to Mount Allison University, a primarily undergraduate libe ...

, and his MA and PhD from the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

, he returned to teach at the

University of New Brunswick The University of New Brunswick (UNB) is a public university with two primary campuses in Fredericton and Saint John, New Brunswick. It is the oldest English language, English-language university in Canada, and among the oldest public universiti ...

in Saint John and then, for twenty years, at Mount Allison University. In 2009, he returned to Ontario as Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Science at

Huron University College Huron University College is a university college affiliated with the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario, Canada. It was Incorporated on the 5 May 1863. Huron is the founding institution of the University of Western Ontario. It ...

, where he stayed until 2016 when he settled back in New Brunswick in St Andrews By-the-Sea. Three of Blagrave's plays have been contracted for professional production (''We Happy Few,'' and ''Scape'' by Live Bait Theatre, and ''Nomentacke'' by NotaBle Acts Festival) and a dozen others have been produced by university theatres in New Brunswick. His short stories have appeared regularly in Canadian periodicals such as ''

The Fiddlehead ''The Fiddlehead'' is a Canadian literary magazine, published four times annually at the University of New Brunswick. It is the oldest Canadian literary magazine which is still in circulation. History and profile ''The Fiddlehead'' was establ ...

, The Antigonish Review'', and '' The New Quarterly''. ''Silver Salts'', his first novel, was shortlisted for the Commonwealth First Novel Award (Canada and Caribbean) for 2008. ''Salt in the Wounds'', a collection of linked stories, all connected to salt, followed in 2014, and the novel ''Lay Figures'' in 2020.

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Mark Blagrave at Mount Allison University
1956 births Living people Canadian male novelists Canadian male short story writers Academic staff of the University of Western Ontario People from Sackville, New Brunswick 21st-century Canadian novelists 20th-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights 21st-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights Canadian male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Canadian short story writers 21st-century Canadian short story writers 20th-century Canadian male writers 21st-century Canadian male writers Novelists from Ontario Novelists from New Brunswick {{Canada-playwright-stub