Sharon Pollock was born Mary Sharon Chalmers in Fredericton, New Brunswick, in 1936, where she first became involved in the theatre in university. Later, with the Prairie Players, she toured B.C. and Alberta in 1966, and was voted Best Actress at the Dominion Drama Festival. She settled in Calgary the next year, and while pregnant with her sixth child she began writing her first play. In 1973, Walsh (1983) premiered at Theatre Calgary. A subsequent production in 1974 at the Stratford Festival brought Pollock's writing to wide public attention. She has written many plays including Blood Relations and Other Plays, which won the Governor General's Award in 1981, and Doc (1985), which won the Governor General's Award in 1986.