Patricia Irvine grew up in Snowtown and Adelaide and has been a secondary school teacher and a historian. She has lived on the Lefevre Peninsula for some years and has operated a kayak touring business in the local mangroves. She has published articles on ornithology and mangrove ecology.
Since beginning to write poetry Irvine has won several awards and has read on radio and at various venues. Her unpublished poems 'Idyll' was Highly Commended and her 'Clerihew' was Commended in the Yellow Moon Itzy-Bitzy Wing-Ding Competition 1999. In 2000 her 'Crumpled Tissue' won first prize in the C. J. Dennis Literary Awards: Poetry, Open Section.
She adapted the autobiography of Kirayama prizewinner Pascal Khoo Thwe, From the Land of Green Ghosts, for broadcast on ABC Radio National's 'First Person' in 2004.
