Interview with Ingrid Visser

Ingrid Visser
Photo by Jo Berghan

Name: Ingrid Visser

Date of birth: 20 February 1966

Place of birth: Wellington

Now living in: Tutukaka, Northland

What is your favourite food?

Chocolate.

Do you have a nickname and if so what is it?

“Orca”

What was your most embarrassing moment?

There’s too many to pick just one!

How do you relax?

Swimming, horse riding, reading a book.

Who inspired you when you were little?

Dian Fossey.

What were you like at school?

A ‘social reject’ - I didn’t have many friends - a bit of a nerd.

What was your favourite/most hated subject at school?

Favourite - Biology. Most hated - Maths

What was the book you most loved as a child?

The Boy Who Sailed Around the World Alone, opens a new window, by Robin Lee Graham, and Dolphin Day (author unkown).

Which person from the past would you most like to meet?

Recent past - Dian Fossey (studied gorillas).

Who is your favourite author/children’s author?

Arthur C. Clarke, opens a new window.

Why did you want to be a writer?

To tell people about the orca.

Do you have a special place where you write your books?

No - just wherever I am - I usually work while travelling for my other job - ‘Eco-tourism’ - e.g. to Antarctica.

What’s the best thing and worst thing about being a writer?

Best - getting correct information out there and then hearing people say the right things when talking about orca. Worst - deadlines.

If you weren’t a writer, what would you like to be?

I’m not only a writer, now, so I have another job - orca researcher - but I don’t get paid for this so have another job to earn money - I work on ‘eco-tourism’ ships to various destinations. On these I work as a biologist - telling the people about the wildlife, give lectures, and drive boats.

What advice would you give to aspiring writers?

Write about things that are important to you - it might be an experience you had, or it might be something you imagined - but whatever it is, do it to the best of your abilities.

Read some books written by Ingrid Visser, opens a new window

This interview is from 2002.

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