Howe was born and raised in
Houston, Texas. Her mother is a longtime curator at the
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Howe graduated from the
Kinkaid School and earned her undergraduate degree in art history and philosophy at
Columbia University. She began writing fiction while doing graduate work; she earned an MA in American and New England Studies at
Boston University. She teaches at
Cornell University. The bestselling novelist
Matthew Pearl, who also started writing fiction as a graduate student in English studies, is a core member of this group. He is sometimes credited with helping to launch Howe's literary career. Another of her relatives was Edward Howe, a ship captain, and his wife Hannah Masury, who took over his ship after his death on a Pacific excursion in the 19th century. Hannah Masury is the great-aunt of Katherine Howe, and her story became the inspiration for Howe's 2023 novel
A True Account, which tells the story of a woman dressing up as a cabin boy on a pirate ship, which she eventually takes command of. ==Bibliography==