Caitlin Brandon's residency with The Arctic Circle

Hi there! My name is Caitlin Brandon and I am an independent polar historian based in California. While I have a variety of polar interests, my work currently focuses on the life of Dr. Alexander Macklin, the surgeon onboard Ernest Shackleton's Endurance and Quest expeditions. Because of the Macklin project, I have been invited to join The Arctic Circle, an expeditionary residency programme for artists, writers and scientists to further their research and creative work on all manner of polar topics.

Macklin's diaries, narrative accounts and interviews make up the foundation of nearly every book written about Endurance and Shackleton's later life and death. I was intrigued by his role as a central figure in the narrative and wanted to learn more about him as a person, only to discover that very little public information existed. This sent me down a rabbit hole of research, at first purely to satiate my personal interest, and then gradually it began to take shape into a true project.

In October 2023 I presented a lecture on Macklin's life and role in Shackleton's narratives at the Shackleton Autumn School in Athy, Ireland. This incredible opportunity introduced me to so many people whose work I have long admired in the polar community, and affirmed my own place within it. It is one of the proudest accomplishments of my life, as well as one of the most deeply humbling, for my project to be considered a worthy contribution to the body of work on the history of polar exploration. Since then, I have scheduled several future lectures, including one at the upcoming Shackleton 150 conference at the Royal Geographical Society hosted by Mensun Bound and Stephen Scott-Fawcett.

My intention is for this project to ultimately culminate in a book, and that is where The Arctic Circle comes in. I am currently working on a manuscript of the first biography of Macklin, interweaving my research on his life and work with my own experience of falling so deep into this polar obsession. The book is proving to be as much of an exploration of what it means to dive headfirst into someone's history and let it fling you to the farthest reaches of the earth as it is a biography. I look to inspirations like Angie Butler's The Quest for Frank Wild and Bea Uusma's The Expedition when it comes to marrying the personal narrative with the historical research.

The Arctic Circle residency will provide me with the opportunity of a lifetime that I never would be able to experience otherwise: Two weeks spent on board a specialized polar exploration vessel, circumnavigating the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and attempting to push north into the pack ice. During this time, I will be able to further my personal and professional development as a polar historian by experiencing an expedition firsthand, connect with fellow artists and scientists making waves in the polar community, delve deeper into my research on Macklin's ties to the Arctic, and have two glorious weeks dedicated to writing, writing, writing!

However, like all the explorers we read about, I too need to raise funds for this expedition.

Up until now, my work on Macklin has been entirely independently funded. While it has become a true professional calling, it did start as a purely personal passion project. As such, I have not had the financial support of an institution to help offset the costs of my travel from California to the UK and Ireland for research and speaking engagements. Additionally, in order to be able to truly dedicate time to my research and writing, I have been working my day job part-time. I'm extraordinarily fortunate and privileged to be able to do so, and to have been able to accomplish as much as I have so far without outside support, but the truth of the matter is that the cost of The Arctic Circle exceeds my independent historian/writer means.

In my research, I have uncovered the extent to which Alexander Macklin did not wish to abandon his life as an explorer. He fully intended to continue on after the Quest expedition returned to the UK in 1922, and had ample opportunity to do so, chiefly in exploring the Arctic – a dream of his since his childhood spent hearing his father's stories of his own time on Arctic whaling vessels. But in the end, he had to accept that it was not financially feasible to pursue life as an explorer, and he never returned to the ice.

At my core, I am a dreamer, and I like to think there is a bit of magic to the universe, a way of seeing signs that the path you're on is the right one for you. At every turn of this project, I have seen these signs, and this is one of the biggest yet. I desperately want to be able to embark on this expedition with The Arctic Circle and see how it impacts the deeply intertwined Gordian knot that has become of the Macklin project and my own heart.

Which brings us here: I am humbly asking for assistance in financing my participation in The Arctic Circle residency. By supporting this trip, you are directly making it possible for me to take full advantage of this incredible opportunity and helping to further my work on the Macklin project. When it does one day become a book, you will undoubtedly be thanked, because I have no doubt that this residency will contribute significantly toward my writing.

I have outlined the full cost of the programme below. I anticipate that I will be able to self-fund roughly half of it, so have set the goal accordingly, but in the event any money is raised above the goal it will still be used to offset my out of pocket costs. Any amount you can graciously donate will help immensely toward achieving this goal!

Programme participation fee: $11,500

Flights to and from Longyearbyen: ~$1,500

Recommended Arctic gear: ~$1,000 (I am a delicate California wildflower, I don't even own gloves!)

Total cost: ~$14,000, halved to $7,000 for this goal

Thank you SO MUCH for taking the time to read this missive, and for any support you are able to provide. Even if you are unable to contribute, it would be immensely helpful if you could share this fundraiser so that it gets a wider reach.