Ingrid de Kok grew up in Stilfontein, a gold mining town in what was then the Western Transvaal.
[citation needed] De Kok is a fellow of the University of Cape Town, an Associate Professor in Extra-Mural Studies, and part of a team of two that designs and administers the public non-formal educational curriculum that constitutes the Extra-Mural Programmes at the University of Cape Town.
She is a member of PEN, South Africa and a Trustee of Buchu Publishing Project.
She was a member of the committee of the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown, South Africa with responsibility for convening the Winter School from 2000 to 2005, and is currently on the National Arts Council Literary Advisory Committee.
[citation needed] Between 1977 and 2006, de Kok's poems were published in numerous South African literary journals, including Upstream, Sesame, Staffrider, Contrast, New Contrast, New Coin, and Carapace.