Myra Paperny (née Green born 19 September 1932) is a Canadian author and former academic. After briefly reporting for the ''

Vancouver Province ''The Province'' is a daily newspaper published in tabloid format in British Columbia by Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network, alongside the ''Vancouver Sun'' broadsheet newspaper. Together, they are British Columbia's only ...

'' and '' Vancouver News Herald'' in the early 1950s, Paperny taught

creative writing Creative writing is any writing that goes beyond the boundaries of normal professional, journalistic, academic, or technical forms of literature, typically identified by an emphasis on craft and technique, such as narrative structure, character ...

Mount Royal College Mount Royal University (MRU) is a public university in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Originally “Mount Royal College,” Mount Royal University was granted university status in 2009 by the provincial government. The university has an average class s ...

and the

University of Calgary {{Infobox university , name = University of Calgary , image = University of Calgary coat of arms without motto scroll.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms , former ...

between the mid 1950s and mid 1970s. Upon leaving academics, Paperny wrote multiple books between the 1970s to 2000s. Of her works, ''The Wooden People'' won the 1975 Little, Brown Children’s Book Award and the 1976 Canada Council Children's Literature Prize in the English language category.

Early life and education

On 19 September 1932, Paperny was born in

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

. Growing up, Paperny lived in

Ponoka, Alberta Ponoka is a town in central Alberta, Canada. It is located at the junction of Highway 2A and Highway 53, north of Red Deer and south of Edmonton. The name Ponoka is Blackfoot for "elk", which is the animal depicted in the town flag. Po ...

as a child and

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

as a teenager. For her post-secondary education, Paperny received a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

from the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...

in 1953. The following year, Paperny earned a

Master of Science A Master of Science (; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree. In contrast to the Master of Arts degree, the Master of Science degree is typically granted for studies in sciences, engineering and medici ...

from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

and specialized in journalism.

Career

While attending university, Paperny began her career as a newspaper reporter with the ''

'' in 1952 and the '' Vancouver News Herald'' in 1953. Following her journalism career, Green worked for

CBC Radio CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...

as a

freelancer ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...

before going into academics. Paperny taught creative writing at

in 1965 before leaving for the

in 1966. She ended her creative writing academic position at Calgary in 1975 and started working in

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. Pu ...

. Outside of academics, Paperny edited ''Councilwoman'' from 1970 to 1973 before she published ''The Wooden People'' in 1976. Paperny did not write another children's book until the late 1980s with ''Take a Giant Step'' in 1987 and ''Nightmare Mountain'' in 1988. Her completed fourth book, ''The Greenies'', was published in 2005.

Writing style and themes

For the majority of her first works, Paperny used her and her family's recollections while incorporating detailed research on Alberta. To write ''The Wooden People'', Peperny used mail-order catalogs by

Eaton's The T. Eaton Company Limited, later known as Eaton's, was a Canadian department store chain that was once the largest in the country. It was founded in 1869 in Toronto by Timothy Eaton, an immigrant from what is now Northern Ireland. Eaton's g ...

and had the story take place years before the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

. After the release of ''The Wooden People'', Paperny said there was no connection between the similarities of her youth and her book. With ''The Greenies'', Paperny intended to set her story in British Columbia after World War II. She instead decided to write about Jewish children who moved to Canada after World War II as orphans.

Awards and honors

In 1975, Paperny won the 1975 Little, Brown Children’s Book Award for ''The Wooden People'' as an unpublished work. Following publication, Paperny was awarded the 1976 Canada Council Children's Literature Prize in the English language category.

Personal life

Paperny is married and has four children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paperny, Myra 1932 births Canadian newspaper reporters and correspondents Academic staff of the University of Calgary Canadian women children's writers Living people