Born of Jewish heritage[3] in Toronto, Gotlieb graduated from the University of Toronto with degrees in literature in 1948 (BA) and 1950 (MA).
In 1961, Gotlieb published the pamphlet Who Knows One, a collection of poems.[4] Her first novel, the science-fiction tale Sunburst, was published in 1964. Gotlieb won the Prix Aurora Award for Best Novel in 1982 for her novel A Judgement of Dragons. The Sunburst Award is named for her first novel.[5]
Her husband was Calvin Gotlieb (1921–2016), a computer-science professor who lived in Toronto, Ontario.
Selected poetry of Phyllis Gotlieb – Biography & 15 poems (Aquarius, as I was walking down the street, A Catful of Buttermilk, Death's Head, A Discourse, A Double Vision, First Person Demonstrative, Hospitality, Latitude, Ordinary, Moving, Red Black White, Seventh Seal, So Long It's Been, Thirty-Six Ways of Looking at Toronto Ontario, What I Know (Making Free with Villon's Smalltalk))