Patricia O' Heare grew up in Melbourne and has worked as a flower stall proprietor, an immigration clerk and a teacher. At Monash University she studied literature, history and art. Her poetry has been published in literary journals, newspapers and anthologies since 1989. O'Heare was awarded first place for 'Approaching the Australian Landscape' in the La Trobe University 1999 Environmental Poetry Competition and for 'Correspondence With the Irish Relatives' in the Australian Irish Heritage Association Poetry Prize 1998.