Brian Wilkie was born in 1929 in Brooklyn. He received his bachelor's degree at Columbia University in 1951, master's at the University of Rochester in 1952, and PhD of Philosophy from the Unviersity of Wisconsin in 1959. He was assistant professor of English at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire from 1959-1963, associate professor of English at the University of Illinois from 1963-1970 and professor of English there from 1970-1985. He was the 1st recipient of the Unvieristy of Illinois' Teacher Excellence Award in 1965. He was a Corporal in the United States Army from 1952-1954, a member of the Modern Language Association's Executive Committee English Romanitcs Division from 1973-1978, and part of their delegate assembly form 1974-1976. He was a professor of English at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville from 1985 until his passing in December 2003. He published books including several volumes and editions of the widely used anthology "Literature Of The Western World" among others. Wilkie also served as the faculty advisor to the UA Graduate Students in English Organization for several years.