Catherine McNamara grew up in Sydney, ran away to Paris to write, and ended up in West Africa co-running a bar. She was an embassy secretary in pre-war Mogadishu, and has worked as an au pair, graphic designer, art gallery manager, teacher, translator and shoe model.

Praised by Hilary Mantel, her short story collection The Cartography of Others (May 2018, Unbound U.K.) was a Finalist in the People’s Book Prize 2019-20, was awarded Grand Prize in the Eyelands International Book Awards (Greece) and listed on the Literary Sofa’s Best of 2018 Reads. Her book Pelt and Other Stories (2013, Indigo Dreams U.K.) was long-listed for the Frank O’Connor Award and semi-finalist in the Hudson Prize U.S.A. Her short stories and flash fiction have been Pushcart-nominated and published widely in the U.K., Europe, U.S.A. and Australia. Her flash/short fiction collection Love Stories for Hectic People came out in March 2021 with Reflex Press (U.K.) and won Best Short Collection category for the Saboteur Awards 2021 (U.K.). It has also been awarded an Indie Books We Love sticker by LoveReading (U.K.). Catherine was Guest Editor for the Best Small Fictions Anthology 2023 (U.S.A.).

A bumper selection of her short stories and flash fiction, The Carnal Fugues, came out with Puncher & Wattmann (Australia) in October 2023 where it was presented at the Australian Short Story Festival, and received glowing reviews in The Sydney Morning Herald and the Australian Book Review.

Catherine speaks Italian and French and lives in Veneto, Italy, where she hosts summer retreats for writers and artists in her African-art-filled farmhouse. She is a writing mentor and coach, and Flash Fiction Editor for Litro Magazine.