Poetry by Gala Muench

"The title poem Siren Song walks the line between the conscious and unconscious minds, and Gala Muench entices by balancing images that give and take until "we" traverse the distance:

"One ear to the silence/one heartbeat away from chaos?"

It is precisely Muench's ability to mix real, surreal, and natural images, that gives her poetry so much strength. Siren Song is amplified by photographs taken by Gala's husband Chris Muench. Like cups of water from the same barrel as the poems, the photographs are references to a mythic subtext, from nude to nude, from barn to barn. Muench's stories fit her chosen song. Her voice rings true to place, to the intermountain West,...and so, rings beyond."

- - William Studebaker -- Short of a Good Promise and Passions We Desire

Cost: $14.95 (plus 6% Idaho Sales Tax & $3 shipping)

"Siren Song documents the most important passages in our lives. An Emergency Medical Technician, Muench has seen more than her share of accidents and tragedies. But her grief is balanced by the joy she finds in the natural world, where dragonflies sketch calligraphy in the air above a pond. Open-hearted, she fights against forgetting, against the forces of our erasure. Tough and gentle, firm yet yielding, Muench's poems offer a world reborn in fresh language, and imagery that's stark yet very much alive. Siren Song is simply a beautiful book, inside and out."

- - Dennis Held -- Betting on the Night

"Gala Muench's poems cut right to the point-blank blue-lane chase straight for the racing heart. Or they take the gravel-'n'-grass, languishing, capillary, scenic route. Either way, Siren Song -- via its idyllic, veristic, organic verses, choruses, and bridges -- gets us there, where we, whether enchanted or saddened, "learn the language of soil," the lyric of land, the music of universe earth. Gala Muench's poetry resounds with the vocal range of an operatic diva. Ten parts Zest and 11 parts Zen, this is one book no serious reveler-in-song and reverer-of-life can afford to live without."

-- Paul Zarzyski -- Wolf Tracks on the Welcome Mat

Gala Muench Bio

Born into a family of painters and sculptors, Gala Muench grew up in Seattle and on Lopez Island in the San Juan Islands. She studied creative writing and visual arts at the University of Washington and at the University of Montana, where she received her Master’s Degree in writing. Since 1976, she has taught writing at the University of Montana, Boise State University, Lewis-Clark State College, and currently teaches writing at North Idaho College in Coeur d’Alene. Gala is also a visual artist skilled in a wide range of mediums, including drawing, painting, and computer imaging. She currently directs the new Art Program at Kootenai High School located near her home. Inspired by nature in Idaho and the pathos of life, her artwork, like her poetry, fiction, and non-fiction, is infused with stark vigor and resonant imagery. Gala’s writing and artwork have received numerous awards since first publishing and exhibiting her work in 1964. Her book of poetry, Siren Song, explores her experiences in nature and wilderness and her sixteen years serving as a rural EMT with Harrison Community Ambulance, for which she has received the City of Harrison VIP Award and the Maxine Christensen Lifetime Service Award. Gala lives with her professor/artist husband on their Harrison Flats hay farm where she enjoys everything outdoors, including hiking, gardening, fishing, hunting, and horseback riding. Gala is currently working on a memoir and an illustrated children’s book.
Please feel free to contact her through Northwest Spirit,
or directly at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or (208) 689-3877.