Meet the author

Katherine Rundell.

Writer · United Kingdom · b. 1987

Katherine Rundell: British middle-grade author behind Rooftoppers, The Explorer and Impossible Creatures — lush, literary, image-rich adventure fiction for ages 9–13.

Katherine Rundell is a British author born in 1987, one of the most acclaimed contemporary UK middle-grade voices. Best known for Rooftoppers (2013), The Explorer, The Wolf Wilder, The Good Thieves, Impossible Creatures (2023, Waterstones Book of the Year) and a string of stand-alone middle-grade novels with a distinctively lush, slightly old-fashioned literary register. Rundell's voice is precise, image-rich and morally serious without being heavy, with a strong sense of adventure-fiction tradition (Eva Ibbotson, Frances Hodgson Burnett). She is also a Fellow of All Souls and writes adult literary essays. A core contemporary UK middle-grade author for ages 9–13 ready for emotionally substantial single-volume adventure fiction.