Gail Folkins has worked as a journalist, a writer/editor overseas, and a writing instructor. Originally from Issaquah, Washington, she studied English and journalism at Washington State University, wrote for newspapers in the Pacific Northwest, and wrote creatively on her own.
After moving to Austin in 1989, she worked as a writer/editor for several companies, including National Instruments. She began teaching after receiving a master’s degree in English at Texas State University.
From 1999-2000, she worked in Switzerland as a writer/editor. She joined the graduate program at Texas Tech University in 2003, completing her PhD in creative nonfiction in 2006.
Her essays, articles, fiction, and poetry have appeared in various journals, while her creative nonfiction book published by Texas Tech University Press Texas Dance Halls: A Two-Step Circuit was released in September 2007. Her nature-themed memoir Light in the Trees, also from Texas Tech University Press, was released in 2016. Gail writes and teaches in the Seattle area.