Gig Ryan was born in England in 1956, the family returning to Australia in 1957. In 1974 she won a Victorian poetry prize and was published soon after. In 1974 she helped found a feminist literary journal, Luna. She was a joint winner of the Anne Elder award in 1981, has published numerous poetry collections and won the C.J. Dennis award in 1999 for Pure and Applied. Ryan has been a critic and freelance book reviewer and since 2001 has been the poetry editor for The Age. As well as poetry Ryan is also a singer/songwriter, forming a band Disband with two other women.