SOURCE: An interview in Rooms of Their Own, Penguin Books, 1986, pp. 174-91.

Ellison is an Australian academic, author, and critic. In the following interview, Jolley discusses her life, career, and the craft of writing.

[Ellison]: How do you see your latest book, Foxybaby, in relation to your body of work?

[Jolley]: Foxybaby has been written in a more compact way. With the other books, I was writing more than one at a time. They go over a certain number of years. I concentrated on Foxybaby—just wrote it and finished it. Everything in the book has to come through Miss Porch. I've not written like that before. Because the book is a kind of visionary nightmare, Miss Porch has to be there for every single thing. Nothing can take place without her being there, because the book is actually through her mind, in a way.

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