After graduating from Kelvin High School, she completed an Honours BA in English at the University of Manitoba in 1962.
In the late 1960s, she received a grant to study native people; this research provided much of the material for her first book, Reservations are for Indians, published in 1970.
[3] Robertson published four books in the 1970s, including Grass Roots, which profiles four modern prairie towns and the difficulties faced by farmers in Western Canada,[4] Salt of the Earth and A Terrible Beauty: The Art of Canada at War.
In 1981 she chronicled the life of the Winnipeg bank robber Ken Leishman in The Flying Bandit.
[3] Throughout her writing career, Robertson was a prolific freelancer for the CBC and national magazines such as Maclean's, Chatelaine, Saturday Night, Canadian Forum and Equinox.