Ivy grew up in the small railway town of Ungarra. Her mother taught her to read and write before she went to school, and she was always an avid reader. She had a good imagination, and would create adventurous stories which she would try to act out, with the reluctant help of her playmates. She attended Pt Lincoln High School, and her English teacher was Colin Thiele, at a time when he was just beginning his writing career. She wrote stories whenever she could find time to do so.
She started nursing at Cleve in 1952, and later transferred to the Mt Gambier hospital. In 1955 she married Raymond Edwards. They had six children in eight years, so she had little time for writing for some years. In 1986 she became involved with a writing group at Cummins, and formed a similar group at Tumby Bay in 1993. She did a writing course by correspondence through The Writing School (NSW) in 1992. She is still a compulsive writer, although recently she has not offered work for publication. She has travelled extensively around Australia by caravan, and now in retirement, still travels at least once a year.
