Alice Guerin Crist was born at Clarecastle, near Ennis, in County Clare, Ireland. She arrived in Brisbane with her family as a two year old in 1879, and was educated by her father, a teacher in the Queensland Education Department. She became a teacher herself for a short time, then returned to her family on the Darling Downs. In 1902 she married German immigrant farmer Joseph Crist.
She pursued an active literary career as well as raising her children and working on the farm. Her poetry and short fiction was published widely in journals such as The Bulletin, Steele Rudd's Magazine, The Worker, and The Toowoomba Chronicle. She was a devout Catholic, and wrote regularly for the Catholic Advocate. She was also friendly with poet Mary Gilmore (q.v.), who published her work in the Australian Worker. Alice Guerin Crist was also a member of the Toowoomba Ladies Literary Society. In 1935 she received the King's Jubilee medal for her contribution to Australian literature, and in 1937 received the Commemoration Medal of the Coronation of George V. She died in 1941. In September 1953 a wing of the Holy Spirit Hospital, Brisbane, was dedicated in her name.
Major source : Australian Dictionary of Biography Online
