Kate Constable was born in Melbourne in 1966. When she was six, her family moved to Papua New Guinea for her father's work as a pilot.
She completed an Arts/Law degree at Melbourne University before she settled into the job that was to become her main source of income for the next thirteen years: phone sales, administration assistant and occasional receptionist at Warner Music.
She started writing after many years at law school and at Warner. In 1993, her first short story, "Graham Remains", was published in the literary magazine Meanjin. In 1996 she won second prize in the annual HQ short story competition.
