Vivienne Causby was the only daughter of Edward Walter Little and his wife Dorothy. She tells her story thus: 'I was born in Broken Hill but left at the age of 2 years. For the next sixty years I lived in a large, very old blue stone house in North Adelaide.

'When I married my husband joined us and there was plenty of room when our four children arrived. I believe that life in that house was the greatest influence on my writing. Without realizing it I gained first hand knowledge of how even the most civilized and good people impinge upon each other in subtle ways and I observed every facet of growing old before I grew old myself. I understood the life of the willing recluse and that resident ghosts are not necessarily frightening entities.

'My formal education was very limited, but I have always read widely, observed life, and I am not stupid. My husband of 55 years is my best friend and our children are our friends.

'I have read that a wretched childhood is a writer's best friend. This is the only area in which my parents let me down badly. "Happy the family whose history is dull" so I have had to invent my fictions.'

Causby began writing in the 1960s. She has had a number of plays performed both within South Australia and interstate. In addition to the poems, plays and short stories listed in AustLit she has also published various historical pieces.

Major source: The author