Ruth Gilbert ONZM (born 1917) is a New Zealand poet whose work has been widely published in New Zealand and Commonwealth countries. She was born in Greytown and educated at Hamilton High School and the Otago School of Physiotherapy.
Her poetry appeared first in magazines and anthologies and later in ten personal collections. She was awarded the Jessie Mackay Memorial Award for verse three times. She has served as President of New Zealand P.E.N. and the New Zealand Women Writers Society.
In 2002 she received an Award of Officer of New Zealand Order of Merit for services to poetry. A new collection of her poems, Selected Poems 1941- 1998, has been published by Original Books, Wellington.
She lives in retirement in Motueka.
F. W. Nielsen Wright, Ruth Gilbert, an Account of her Poetry: An Interpretative Study, Wellington, Cultural and Political Booklets, 1985