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Gillian Polack

Dr. Gillian Polack is an award-winning science fiction and fantasy writer. She is also an ethnohistorian. In her spare time, she reads and is active in science fiction fandom.

IN THE AUTHOR’S WORDS

Author interview

Interview submitted 8 June 2022.

What inspired you to start writing?

I wish I knew! I've wanted to write for so long that I don't have a starting date. When I was eight I decided I couldn't earn enough money to live as a writer, and so I needed two careers.

Who are some of your favorite authors and books?

I have so very many favourite writers. They range from George Gissing and Jane Austen, Anton Checkhov and Fyodor Dostoyevsky through to Ursula Le Guin and Frances Hardinge. Tell me your favourite books and I'll find a book I love that's similar and we can start talking.

What would you like to tell readers who have just discovered your books, but haven't read one yet?

Some writers have universal voices: I don't. If you find me entertaining, then my books should entertain you, too.
I don't know if this is an invitation or a warning. I make puns, you see, but also talk terribly seriously about history and about food. If you like history and food but are not sure about an Australian who overthinks things and will turn lives upside down, then read for the history, and especially for the food. (I have so many recipes for my novels. So very many... I find it easier to write when I know what my characters eat.)

Who is the favorite character you created, and how did they come into being?

Just as I don't have a single favoyurite book, I don't have a single favourite cahracter. I have at least one favourite character in each book. Judith is my favourite in The Wizardry of Jewish Women. She spends the novel discovering things I've known all my life, and being snarky about everything. It was so much fun to take that voyage with her.
Why her? I've spent a lot of my life being asked what it's like to be Jewish and being told with profound sincerity "You're the first Jew I've ever met." I've never had to discover that part of my background. I wanted to know what it would be like for someone who came from a similar background to me, but didn't have most of the baggage. The snark was the best part of it. I treat all the questions very seriously... Judith does not. Writing about her discovering magic and her heritage were bonus.

What are your future plans as a writer?

I plan to write more about Enchanted Australia. In fact, I just wrote a short story that may or may not turn into a novel about the sports-loving werewolves and nightclub-addicted vampires who visit Canberra and Sydney from rural NSW.
I will also write more books with solid history underpinning the science fiction and fantasy. And with food. These things are given.