Katherine MacInnes (MSt Oxford University, MA Hons St Andrews) is a non-fiction author of Snow Widows – Scott’s Fatal Antarctic Expedition Through the Eyes of the Women They Left Behind (HarperCollins 2022) and Woman with the Iceberg Eyes: Oriana F. Wilson (History Press 2019). Writing as Kate Nicholson, she published Behind Everest: Ruth Mallory’s Story (Pen & Sword, 2024), which was shortlisted for the Boardman Tasker Mountain Literature Award.
Katherine first started researching polar history when her husband climbed Everest in 2006 and her children were 10 months, 3 and 5. She looked to history and found inspiration from the invisible women – mothers, wives, widows – throughout exploration’s history.
Katherine has been shortlisted for the Biographer’s Prize and is a sought after public speaker on polar history around the globe, from Norway to the Royal Geographical Society. Her most recent project The Shortest History of Antarctica was released by Old Street in October 2026.
Praise for Katherine MacInnes
“It might be the “Shortest History” but it’s one of the most comprehensive, brilliantly illustrated with evocative photos.”
— Max Quinn, polar filmmaker on The Shortest History of Antarctica
“A beautifully written, wonderful treasure-trove.”
— Ken Livingston, NZ Antarctic Society on The Shortest History of Antarctica
“[MacInness] handles the whole thing with masterly skill…takes us to the heart of the hope, love, anguish and grief”
— The Times on Snow Widows
“A truly gripping, original and refreshing angle on the history of polar exploration”
— The Bay Magazine on Snow Widows
“I am reading it with fascination. It’s magnificent. [MacInnes has] an almost supernatural ability to conjure up the past.”
— Sue Limb, co-author of Captain Oates: Soldier and Explorer on Snow Widows
