Elizabeth Strout was born on January 6, 1956, in Portland, Maine. From a young age, she was drawn to writing, keeping notebooks that recorded the quotidian details of her days. She was also captivated by books and spent many hours in her youth in the local library among the stacks of fiction. Her childhood summers were spent outdoors, either with her brother or alone, where she developed a deep love for the physical world, including the seaweed-covered rocks along the coast of Maine and the woods of New Hampshire with its hidden wildflowers.

Strout attended Bates College, graduating with a degree in English in 1977. Two years later, she went to Syracuse University College of Law, receiving a law degree and a Certificate in Gerontology. She briefly worked for Legal Services before moving to New York City, where she became an adjunct in the English Department of Borough of Manhattan Community College. During this time, she continued to publish stories in literary magazines and won various awards for her work.

Strout is widely known for her works in literary fiction and her descriptive characterization. Her first novel, Amy and Isabelle, met with widespread critical acclaim, became a national bestseller, and was adapted into a movie. Her novel Olive Kitteridge won the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and was adapted into a multi-Emmy Award-winning mini-series. Other notable works include Abide with Me, The Burgess Boys, My Name Is Lucy Barton, and its sequels. In 2022, she won the Siegfried Lenz Prize for her contribution to literature.