Graham is from 4 generations of educators and storytellers. She attributes the starts of her academic career to the discovery of her late father's battered copy of The Negro Caravan and a Royal typewriter. Founding Director of the History of Black Writing (HBW), and recipient of over $3,500,000 in external funding, her research is tied directly to the recovery, preservation, and recirculation of understudied texts and authors, supported by national and international collaborations. Her 12 published books include the Cambridge History of African American Literature with Jerry W. Ward, Jr, HBW’s founding board member. The House Where My Soul Lives: The life of Margaret Walker, was published by Oxford University Press in 2022. She is currently working on a memoir, “School Teachers Daughter."