Gillian Polack was born in Melbourne, Victoria. She went to local state schools. She attended Melbourne University and was awarded a Bachelor of Arts (First Class Honours) in History, with the Margaret Kiddle and Felix Raab Prizes. She did her Master of Arts at the Centre for Medieval Studies (University of Toronto) and submitted her thesis for Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Sydney. She later took out teaching qualifications at the University of New England. She currently lives in Canberra, ACT.

Short stories

Polack’s short stories and novels are primarily within the genre of speculative fiction. She has published more than a dozen short stories, with the first appearing in 1981. She continued to publish until 1987 but resumed in 2004 and continues in the present. In 1982 she won the Victorian Government Ministry for the Arts Award for her story “The Performance”. She was also recommended reading as part of Datlow’s Year's Best Fantasy and Horror in 2004 for “Happy Faces for Happy Families” and again in 2005 as part of Link/Grant/Datlow Year's Best for “Impractical Magic”.

Novels

Her first novel, Illuminations, was published in 2002 by Trivium Publishing. It was followed up in 2009 by Life Through Cellophane, published by Eneit Press. She has a third novel forthcoming, entitled The Art of Effective Dreaming, also to be published by Trivium Publishing. The many delays in publishing this novel, mostly due to the devastation caused by Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Ike, have prompted questions as to whether it is cursed.

New Ceres

Polack created the New Ceres universe for a short story. Alisa Krasnostein, now of Twelfth Planet Press, used this universe as the basis for the New Ceres webzine and for stories set in the New Ceres universe.

Nonfiction

Polack’s nonfiction work covers a broad spectrum. Her scholarly work focuses both on the Middle Ages and on modern writers, with, for instance, a feature article on the Middle Ages in Robin Reid’s Women in Science Fiction and Fantasy. She reviews speculative fiction and has written guests posts on subjects ranging from writing to history.

Polack is the co-editor of Masques, published by Canberra Speculative Fiction Guild, and of the forthcoming Baggage anthology to be published by Eneit Press. The table of contents includes K. J. Bishop, Jack Dann, Kaaron Warren and Jennifer Fallon.

Polack teaches mainly at the Centre for Continuing Education, Australian National University and at the Canberra Writers' Centre. Her guest teaching has included History for fiction writers at the NSW Writers' Centre and floortalks at museums such as the Canberra Museum and Art Gallery. She has also been a panellist at the Canberra Literary Festival.

Gillian Polack has worked on many committees and been asked to give talks for many organisations, both in paid and voluntary capacities. She has been a member of the Australian NGO Working Group for the UN World Conference Against Racism, a past member of the Ministerial Advisory Council on Women, ACT, and was the Vice-President and National Director of the National Council of Jewish Women of Australia (1994—1997).