Born in 1968, Graeme MacKay grew up in Dundas, Ontario, Canada.
Once he graduated from Parkside High School in Dundas, Graeme attended the University of Ottawa majoring in History and Political Science. There he submitted cartoons, including a comic strip called Alas & Alack, to the student newspaper, The Fulcrum, and became the graphics editor.
After a 2 year working tour through Europe and North Africa he returned to Canada in 1994 and submitted cartoons to various newspapers. His work caught the eye of The Hamilton Spectator and in 1997, he was hired as a full-time editorial cartoonist.
Since then, his wit and biting cartoons have graced the pages of his hometown paper. His work regularly appears regionally, in the Niagara peninsula and southern Ontario, through Star-metroland Media, in the Niagara Falls Review, the Welland Tribune, the St. Catharines Standard, the Waterloo Region Record, and Peterborough Examiner
In May 2014, Graeme and other Canadian editorial cartoonists travelled to Cuba
Besides creating five editorial cartoons per week for the Spectator, Graeme’s work is nationally syndicated through Artizans. Through distribution his cartoons appear across the Internet and in newspapers, big and small, throughout Canada, and occasionally in the United States.
In the early 2000’s he complemented his editorial cartoon job by illustrating a local cartoon strip called Gridlock.
Between 2008 and 2010, Graeme was President of the Association of Canadian Editorial Cartoonists, and hosted its biennial gathering in Hamilton in September, 2010. He is a two-time recipient 2006, and 2013, of a UN Citation, The Ranan Lurie Political Cartoon Award. In 2014 and 2020, he was recognized among his peers in the Association of Canadian Cartoonists with the George Townsend award, also known as “Townsie” award. He has been twice nominated for a National Newspaper Award in 2020 and 2021.
Keenly interested in history, Graeme has embarked on projects to create caricatures of Canadian Prime Ministers, U.S. Presidents, and British monarchs. He plans on adding more international figures to these galleries and post them to his online stores hosted at Redbubble.com, and TeePublic
Marking the 20th anniversary of his tenure at the Spectator in 2017, he published his first book, You Might Be From Hamilton If… printed by MacIntyre Purcell Publishing Inc.
Graeme has lived in Hamilton, Ottawa, Toronto and London UK. He now resides in Hamilton, with his wife Wendi, and their daughters, Gillian and Jacqueline.
For answers to a whole bunch of questions pertaining to editorial cartooning Graeme accumulated and posted in early 2008 check out this entry.
Click here for a translation of the above text in Ancient Graemelandian.
Please don’t hesitate to contact Graeme MacKay if you require further explanation or comments on a particular cartoon, or editorial cartooning in general. He is a strong advocate of free expression and welcomes critiques from anyone who has a bone to pick regarding any of his cartoons.
Graeme is very active on various social media platforms listed on this page. You can also get in touch with him the old fashioned way:
email
gmackay@thespec.com
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Graeme MacKay,
Editorial Cartoonist,
c/o 211 Pritchard Street, Unit #4
Hamilton ON L8W 0B4
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