High priestess of poetry

Acclaimed Christchurch poet Gail Ingram clearly recalls the euphoria of seeing her first poem published in the Christchurch Press in 2014. “It was amazing. James Norcliffe published it, and I printed it off and sent copies to everybody.”

From her early poems as a student at Canterbury University – “they were angsty poems, the usual stuff about grief, longing, and lost love,” Gail’s fierce passion for the written word kept her focused on her craft and her determination on publication. Gail graduated cum laude from Hagley Writers’ Institute in 2007, and in 2009 she joined the South Island Writers’ Association (SIWA), and began entering writing competitions, both here and overseas. Crucial to her growth as a writer was the feedback, she received from competition judges.

Gail’s debut poetry collection, Contents Under Pressure, published in 2019, received excellent reviews. In September this year, her second poetry collection, Some Bird, was released. It chronicles the experiences of a New Zealand woman during the last 50 years, and is partly auto biographical. Recurring themes in Gail’s poems are around her adoption, her love of nature, and her place in the world. Through her bird poems in Some Bird, she explores childhood, teenage years, falling in love, marriage, motherhood, anxieties about being a “good mother”, and the maturing and aging process.

Next year will see Gail’s third book, Anthology (n), launched by Pūkeko Publications. Gail explains the ‘n’ stands for noun to refer to the etymology of ‘anthology’ – ‘anth’ meaning flowers, and the book being a collection of flower poems. “The poems are supported by photographs I have taken of the flowers while on tramping trips.” Having had a sneak peek at some of those poems and photos, coffee tables around Aotearoa have a lot to look forward to.