Photo: © Jason LeFrense
Kate Beaton was born and raised in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada. After graduating from Mount Allison University with a double degree in History and Anthropology, she moved to Alberta in search of work that would allow her to pay down her student loans.
During the years she spent out in Western Canada, Beaton began creating webcomics under the name Hark! A Vagrant, quickly drawing a substantial following around the world. The collections of her landmark strips Hark! A Vagrant and Step Aside, Pops each spent several months on the New York Times graphic novel bestseller list, as well as appeared on best-of-the-year lists from Time, The Washington Post, Vulture, NPR Books, and winning the Eisner, Ignatz, Harvey, and Doug Wright awards. She has also published the picture books King Baby and The Princess and the Pony.
Her most recent book is the award-winning memoir Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands, which was named a New York Times Notable Book, a Canada Reads Selection, and one of Barack Obama’s favourite books of the year.
Beaton lives in Cape Breton with her family.
