
Her writing is often inspired by her political observations of society’s weaknesses and the struggles faced by low-income or impoverished communities, largely based on experiences she has had working adjacent to these communities.

For two years she also lived in Central Mexico, where she worked as a volunteer and taught literacy to illiterate communities. She studied literature at Canberra College of Advanced Education and the Australian National University, and then worked several jobs before becoming a successful fiction writer, including working as a community arts worker in rural Victoria. Throughout her childhood, her family travelled to and lived in many different places within both Australia and the United Kingdom. As a child, her family moved to Australia, where she still lives today. Cate Kennedy was born in the town of Louth in the county of Lincolnshire, England in 1963.
