Catherine Baker OBE (23 April 1861 – 7 September 1953), better known as Kate Baker, was an Irish-born Australian teacher, best known for encouraging and championing her friend Joseph Furphy, who wrote the quintessential Australian novel of its period, Such Is Life. Despite an indifferent reception by the general public upon its initial publication in 1909 written under the nom de plume Tom Collins, after Furphy's death Baker championed his work and had much of it rescued and republished. Miles Franklin incorporated her recollections into her essay "Who Was Joseph Furphy?", which won the S. H. Prior Memorial Prize in 1939. Baker was appointed an OBE in 1937 for her efforts in promoting Furphy's work and to broader Australian literature. She was an influential part of the Australian literary