Mitchell began his post-secondary education as a journalism student at Ryerson Institute of Technology, Toronto, Ontario.
Although it was met with both praise and criticism from Mitchell's peers, Cruel Tears has seen success in Canada, England and the United States.
His parents come from Irish and Scottish descent, and on both sides his family are "farm people from the hills south of Moose Jaw.
Although he grew up on a farm, Mitchell got a taste for city living through attending school in Moose Jaw, which "prompted [him] to pursue an intellectual life.
[2] Mitchell believes in the strength of "regional writing" and has been quoted to say, "growing up in the Prairies and gaining a perception of the world through this particular landscape has been very important to my development as a writer.