Katie distinctly recalls her first memory of arriving at Corpus - one she believes many alumni will share – that of her mum navigating one-way streets and frantically looking for somewhere to park. Her next memory is of the friendly Corpuscle one room along who bounded through her door and asked, ‘What are you reading?’ Katie pointed to the novel on her bedside table. “It took a while to adjust to vocabulary like reading for studying; tripos for a thing with two parts; and the gyp room where we attempted to cook on a toaster-hob hybrid.” She admits to getting cold feet that Michaelmas, but her mum wisely encouraged her to give Corpus and Cambridge until Christmas, and within a week she’d decided there was a lot to love about the place and its people after all.

“The best thing was being with students and Fellows who loved languages and literature as much as I did. And I was so happy in the College community, including as part of football and hockey teams that cared enough to turn up, but didn’t take themselves too seriously when we lost (most of the time!). That college spirit spilled into life beyond the academic year with travels together and friendships that are still sustaining and amusing us 25 years later.”

After completing her degree, Katie joined the Reuters graduate training programme, working as a reporter in Berlin and London. From there, she moved to the Guardian and Observer newspapers covering business news, then media and economics (including the Brexit referendum build-up and aftermath). Then a conversation with a Corpus friend Hannah Kohler at the wedding of another Corpus friend inspired her to take a leap into writing fiction. Hannah was completing her novel, The Outside Lands and Katie followed her path onto a Masters in Creative Writing. Out of that came her debut novel, Everything Happens for a Reason. Her next novel, Happy is the One, is due for release in May 2024.

Katie also met her husband, Ralf (m1996), at Corpus. In recent years, the couple have been ‘thrilled’ to be involved with the College’s ground-breaking Bridging Programme, helping students from widening participation backgrounds acclimatise to life at Cambridge.

“One way or another I have my time at Corpus to thank for so much in my life: my family, enduring friendships, a career in journalism and now this new chapter writing fiction. Good job my mum told me to give it until Christmas!”