Riemke Ensing

Riemke Ensing (born 1939) is a Dutch-born New Zealand poet. She has published and edited numerous books and is notable for synthesising European and New Zealand influences in her work.

Early life Ensing was born in Groningen, The Netherlands in 1939. She immigrated to New Zealand in 1951 at age twelve. She studied at Ardmore Teachers' Training College, then taught for two years, returning to the College to lecture in English literature for a year.

In 1977, Ensing edited Private Gardens: An Anthology of New Zealand Women Poets. It was the first anthology of women's verse published in New Zealand. She established her reputation with three books published in 1995: Dear Mr Sargeson was written in homage after visiting the cottage of the writer Frank Sargeson in Takapuna; Like I have seen the dark green ladder climbing was written about the paintings of Eion Stevens; in Gloria-in-Excelsis, Ensing edited the poems of Gloria Rawlinson. Her earlier poems showed European influences but during the 1980s and 1990s New Zealand influences and voices became more prominent.

Works Poetry books

Making Inroads – Invocation for the New Zealand Women's Convention, Hamilton, 1979, Coal Black Press, Auckland, 1980 Letters, The Lowry Press, University of Auckland, 1982 Topographies, (graphics by Nigel Brown) Prometheus Press, Auckland, 1984 Spells from Chagall, The Griffin Press, Panmure, Auckland, 1987 The K.M. File and Other Poems with Katherine Mansfield, Hazard Press, Christchurch, Melbourne, 1993. Like I Have Seen The Dark Green Ladder Climbing, The Pear Tree Press, Auckland, 1995 Dear Mr. Sargeson..., Cape Catley, Whatamango Bay, Queen Charlotte Sound, 1995 Finding the Ancestors – poems to celebrate the occasion of the first Dutch Language and Culture Conference of its kind in New Zealand, Pear Tree Press, Auckland, May 1999. Tarawera Te Maunga Tapu, The Pear Tree Press, Auckland, 1999 Talking Pictures–Selected Poems, HeadworX, Wellington, 2000 Storm warning, after McCahon : poems, R. Ensing, Auckland, 2003 This is a man who has bared his soul, Pear Tree Press, Auckland, 2007 Black, Green Bay Press, Auckland, 2010 broadsheet 15 featured poet, ed. Mark Pirie, The Night Press, Wellington, 2015 If only, Pear Tree Press, Auckland, 2017 Blue is a Cracked Vase in Memory: Poems 2000-2025, Cold Hub Press, Lyttelton, 2026

Edited

Private Gardens–an anthology of New Zealand Women Poets, Caveman Press, Dunedin, 1977 Poetry NZ 5, Brick Row Publishers, Auckland, 1992 Gloria in Excelsis–a selection of poems by Gloria Rawlinson– in celebration, The Pear Tree Press, Auckland, 1995