[8] In 2010 the South Canterbury Museum published her non-fiction biography of mountaineer Jack Adamson entitled Feeling for Daylight: The Photographs of Jack Adamson.
[9] Gallagher collaborated with artist Lynn Taylor and printer Sarah Smith to create the artist book Freda Du Faur, Southern Alps 1909-1913, celebrating the life and achievements of Freda Du Faur, the first woman to climb Aoraki/Mount Cook.
[10][11] Salt Water Creek was shortlisted for the 2003 Forward Prize for First Collection.
[12] The Canterbury History Foundation awarded Gallagher the 2007 Canterbury Community Historian Award which supported the publication of Feeling for Daylight: The Photographs of Jack Adamson.
[17] Gallagher held the 2018 University of Otago Robert Burns Fellowship.