Elizabeth Allison Mitcham (nee Brown) was born in Tisdale, Saskatchewan. Her public and high school education was taken at schools across Canada: Saskatchewan, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, and Alberta. She earned degrees at the University of Saskatchewan (BA 1952) and the University of New Brunswick (MA 1954, PhD 1972). She taught at Mount Allison University, prior to accepting a position as professor of English and Comparative Canadian Literature at the University of Moncton in 1968. In 1978, when Mitcham was made full professor, she was one of the few women in North America at that time to have achieved that academic rank. Mitcham was a prolific author, having written over 30 fiction and non-fiction books and children’s literature, as well as scores of poems and articles. She received an honorary degree from the University of Moncton and was named professor emerita upon her retirement in 1989.