Born in Scotland in 1905, Elsie Park Gowan moved to Edmonton with her family in 1912. She graduated from the University of Alberta in 1930 and worked as a teacher for three years in rural Alberta before getting married and returning to Edmonton, where she became very active in the local theatre scene as an actor, teacher and playwright.

Though she wrote over 200 dramatic pieces most of which were produced professionally and broadcast nationally and internationally on the CBC this anthology marks the first comprehensive publication of her work.