Gig Ryan


Gig Ryan, born Elizabeth Anne Martina Ryan, is an Australian poet. She is a recipient of the Christopher Brennan Award.

Early life

Ryan was born in Leicester, England in 1956. This was when her father, Australian surgeon Peter John Ryan, had taken the family to England to gain his surgical qualifications. After they returned in 1957, Ryan grew up in Melbourne, and was educated in the Catholic school system.
In 1993, Ryan earned a B.A. in Latin and Ancient Greek, and in 2020, she earned her doctorate in Creative writing at Monash University.

Career

At seventeen, Ryan won the Victorian 1974 Maryborough Prize, and published her first poems. Ryan lived in Sydney 1978–1990. Before moving to Sydney, she had co-founded Melbourne women writers' magazine Luna in 1974, which she then worked on until '78. Ryan later became poetry editor of The Age newspaper. selecting a weekly poem, and regularly reviewing contemporary poetry. She has also recorded her songs with the bands 'Disband' and 'Driving Past'.

Awards and recognition

Her book Pure and Applied won the 1999 C. J. Dennis Prize for Poetry and Heroic Money was shortlisted for the 2002 Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry. New and Selected Poems was shortlisted for the 2012 Prime Minister's Award for Poetry and the 2012 ASAL award, and winner of the 2012 Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry.

Discography

  • "Six Goodbyes" Disband, Big Home Productions
  • "Church Fete" Driving Past, Chapter Music
  • "Real Estate" Driving Past, Chapter Music
  • "Travel" Driving Past, Jacana Records