Gina Mercer

Gina Mercer enjoys a three-stranded career as a writer, teacher and editor. She has taught creative writing and literature in universities and communities for nearly 30 years. She was Editor of Island from 2006-2010. Spinifex Press published her first novel, Parachute Silk, in 2001. She has published two academic books, one of which was a critical analysis of NZ writer Janet Frame called Janet Frame: Subversive Fictions (UQP, 1994). She has published five collections of poetry: The Ocean in the Kitchen (Five Islands Press, 1999); Night Breathing (Picaro Press, 2006); Handfeeding the Crocodile (Pardalote Press, 2007); and Seasoned with Honey (with 3 other women poets, Walleah Press, 2008). Her latest and fifth poetry collection is all about birds: Weaving Nests with Smoke and Stone (Walleah Press, 2015).