Felicia Mitchell was born in South Carolina and spent her childhood there and on the coast of North Carolina with her parents John A. and Audrey McClary Mitchell and three brothers. Following graduation from Booker T. Washington High School in Columbia, she received both BA and MA from the University of South Carolina. After completing a PhD at The University of Texas at Austin in 1987, she moved to rural southwestern Virginia, where she currently resides. Felicia taught English, including linguistics and creative writing, at Emory & Henry College for many years before retiring with emeritus status. Her scholarly work includes editing Her Words. Diverse Voices in Contemporary Appalachian Women's Poetry. Her poetry collections include A Mother Speaks, A Daughter Listens: Journeying Together Through Dementia; Waltzing with Horses and a chapbook, The Cleft of the Rock. For ten years, she wrote a weekly column for Washington County News and in recent years, she has shared articles about experiences with cancer with Cure Today.