Christoph Meckel spent his youth in Freiburg im Breisgau, where he attended Gymnasium. In 1954/55 he studied graphic art at the Academy of Art in Freiburg im Breisgau, and in 1956 at the Academy of Art in München.
Since 1956 he has worked as both an author and graphic artist. He has traveled extensively through Europe, Africa, and America and lived in Oetingen in Markgräflerland, in Berlin, in the south of France, and in Tuscany.
His graphic work has appeared in numerous exhibitions. Until his withdrawal in 1997, Meckel was a member of the PEN Center of the Federal Republic of Germany. He is a member of the Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur in Mainz and the Deutschen Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung in Darmstadt.
Meckel has received numerous literary prizes, including:
1966 Preis Junge Generation zum Berliner Kunstpreis 1974 Reinhold-Schneider-Preis 1978 Rainer-Maria-Rilke-Preis für Lyrik 1981 Literaturpreis der Freien Hansestadt Bremen, Ernst-Meister-Preis für Lyrik 1982 Georg-Trakl-Preis 1993 Kasseler Literaturpreis 2005 Schiller-Ring der Deutschen Schillerstifung (Weimar) 2006 International Literary Award Novi Sad (Serbia)