Judith Cowan, author, translator and professor, was born in Sydney, Nova Scotia. She received a BA in Modern Languages and Literature in 1965 and a MA in French Literature in 1969 from the University of Toronto. She received an MA in English Literature in 1970 from York University where she also lectured during the 1970-1971 academic year. She completed her PhD in Canadian comparative literature at l'Université de Sherbrooke in 1983. She has been a professor of Canadian, American and English Literature at l'Université de Quebec at Trois-Rivières since 1973. Cowan has translated numerous poems by Quebec writers for Ellipse magazine, a magazine that specializes in translations of Canadian literature. She has also translated whole works by authors such as Gérald Godin and Yves Préfontaine. She was awarded a Governor-General's Award in 2004 for "Mirabel," her translation of Pierre Nepveu's "Lignes aériennes." She has authored and published several collections of short stories, including "Gambler's Fallacy," and had several novels in progress. She passed away in her home in Trois-Rivières on 21 January 2025.