[1] Her mother had been a nurse prior to marrying her father, a prominent local physician and political figure.
As a child, Pollock was not very interested in academics, but enjoyed reading, and at a young age developed a passion for history.
[2] When she was in grade ten, she and a friend skipped school for three weeks straight to sneak into the local cinema and watch movies.
At this young age Pollock and the same friend, Jane Hickman, created "The Secret Two Club", for they both shared the desire to be writers, instead of housewives or teachers like the women around them.
As well as her interest in drama and writing, Pollock was actively involved in the sports teams at King's Hall and was editor of the school magazine.
The same year, Pollock enrolled in the general arts program at the University of New Brunswick (UNB), where she was also an active member of the Drama Society.
She met her future husband, Ross Pollock, at UNB where he was in his fifth year of the environmental forestry program.
Ross openly abused his wife; Pollock admits attempting to kill him by grinding up high hormone level birth control pills and putting the powder into his food.
In 1964, after another violent physical attack by her husband, Pollock left Ross and returned to Fredericton with her five children.
At the Playhouse, she, along with some of the members from the UNB Drama Society, formed "The Company of Ten", which performed six shows in the 1964–65 season, then dissolved the following year.
Pollock followed Ball west, hoping that this move across Canada would allow her and her children the opportunity to start fresh, to leave the emotional baggage of her family behind her.
After their move to Calgary, Pollock and Ball began touring with Mitchell's theatre group The Prairie Players.
[6] In 1971, Pollock wrote her first full-length play, A Compulsory Option, a dark comedy about three men whose paranoia might be realistic.
In Walsh, The Komagata Maru Incident and One Tiger to a Hill, Pollock examines historic events and tells them in a way that causes the audience to question the reality between the official story and what is shown on stage.
[8] Originally written as My Name Is Lisbeth which premiered at Douglas College,[8] Blood Relations is the story of Lizzie Borden, based on historical facts.
In a four star review The Calgary Sun wrote, "...So controlled and carefully delineated is Pollock's performance that she truly does become this remarkable woman who languished far too long under the belief she was unintelligent, unattractive and undeserving.