Christine Churches grew up in Keith, SA, where her family had a property. She was educated at Keith Area School, Girton, the SA Correspondence School, Wattle Park Teachers' College, and, as recorded in her biographical notes in Friendly Street Poetry Reader 1, 'in the second-hand bookshops of Sydney'. She married an Anglican clergyman in 1965, and they had four children. They lived in Sydney for four years and Narrandera (NSW) for three before returning to SA, where they lived at Henley Beach.
Christine read regularly at Friendly Street in the late 70s and early 80s, and her poems were read on the ABC and on radio 5UV. A series was recorded by the Australian National University. She won the Henry Lawson Poetry Award, 1977.
She became a Research Fellow at the University of Adelaide. She studied archaeology, and was awarded the Alitalia Prize for study in Rome. She was divorced, and later re-married.
