Born in Toronto, Kerr attended University of Toronto and obtained an M.A. from York University. Her first collection of poetry, Tenth Muse, was printed by Fiddlehead Press. It was followed by Love Is A Bright Thing Round My Shoulders and two collections since she moved to Victoria in 1978, A Breath of Earth (Ekstasis, 1986) and Dance in the Cage of My Bones (Ekstasis, 1992). The latter title is her poetry about her experiences with breast cancer, and was published one day after she succumbed to the disease.