The Poetry of Alice Guerin Crist: "The evening air was full of sweets, Of Springtime odours vague and faint"

Alice Guerin Crist was born on 6th February 1876 at Clare Castle, Clare in Ireland.

The family moved to Queensland, Australia when Alice was two. Her father, a teacher, was employed at several small, south-eastern rural schools. Here Alice was educated and later helped out as a pupil-teacher.

In 1896 Alice began work at Blackhall Range State School near Landsborough and then West Haldon the following year. In attempting to retrieve some truant students her actions were mis-interpreted and she was dismissed.

She returned to her family home which was now at Douglas on the Darling Downs.

Her devout Irish Catholicism was at first associated with democratic politics and in 1902 she joined the Social Democratic Vanguard.

On 4th October 1902 in Toowoomba, she married a German immigrant farmer, Joseph Christ, who later changed the name to Crist. In 1910 the couple moved to an isolated property near Bundaberg but returned to Toowoomba in 1913 when Joseph started a fuel supply business there.

Alice gave birth to five children during the marriage but still managed to find time, when not carrying out the many needs of running a farm and family, to pursue a prolific literary career.

She published much in the way of poetry and short verse in the Australian secular and religious press including the Bulletin (Sydney), Worker, Steele Rudd's Magazine, Home Budget, Toowoomba Chronicle, Catholic Advocate and Catholic Press.

Her constant themes were rural and domestic experiences, beautifully describing the countryside and the struggles of the Irish Australian pioneers.

In 1917, during WWI, her youngest brother, Felician, was killed at Passchendaele, Belgium. Thereafter for many years she contributed yearly Anzac Day poems to the Toowoomba Chronicle.

Among the poetry books published at this time were ‘When Rody Came to Ironbark and Other Verses’ (1927) and ‘Eucharist Lilies and Other Verses’ (1928).

In 1927 the Brisbane Catholic Advocate engaged Alice for poems, short stories and a serial celebrating the contribution of the Christian Brothers to Catholic education. The latter became a novel 'Go It! Brothers!!’ (1928).

By 1930 Alice became 'Betty Bluegum', the editor of the children's page, and published much and varied works on Queensland's Catholic children exemplifying Irish-Australian nationalism and nature as well as encouraging her young correspondents.

In 1935 she was awarded King George V's jubilee medal and in 1937 King George VI's coronation medal.

Alice Guerin Crist died of tuberculosis on 13th June 1941 in hospital at Toowoomba.

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