Pat Skinner completed an MA in Writing at the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS), a Bachelor of Arts and a Graduate Diploma of Education at the University of Sydney, a Graduate Certificate in Writing at UTS and a Diploma of Editing and Book Publishing at Macleay College.

Skinner's poems have been published in Australian magazines and anthologies. She co-edited (with Carmel Powers) The Writers Directory 1989/90 : Writers for Radio, Screen, Stage and Television in Australia (1989). She was a member of the Society of Editors (NSW) and worked as an editorial assistant for Southerly from 1996 to 2008.