Photo credit: Leila Kramer

Rachel Howard is the freelance dance correspondent of the San Francisco Chronicle. Her first book, The Lost Night, a memoir about the emotional aftermath of her father's unsolved murder, was published to acclaim in 2005. She was later interviewed about her father's murder for an episode of the radio show "This American Life" by host Ira Glass; click here to hear that interview. She is currently earning an MFA in fiction through Warren Wilson College, and is at work on a collection of linked short stories. You can read one of her recent short stories, published in ZYZZYVA, here. Disclaimer: This story is not graphic, but it is about sex, so please don't read it if that offends you.

In another life, Rachel would now be teaching kids how to dance and spin flags. In high school, she was garnering lackluster grades and planning to pursue a career as a color guard instructor when she spotted a statewide writing contest sponsored by UCSB's College of Creative Studies. She won and was petitioned in to the program.

She began her journalism career as a staff arts writer for the Santa Barbara Independent and later the Orange County Register. From 2001 to 2003 she served as the dance critic of the San Francisco Examiner. Her writing has appeared in the New York Times, San Francisco Magazine, the Village Voice, Dance Magazine, and other publications. She has twice served as a panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts' dance division. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she is a member of the San Francisco Writers Grotto.

Rachel’s two childhood loves were ballet and books. Yes, she did dance as a child, but no, as you might surmise from the knock-kneed photo of her in the uppper right corner of this site, she was not particularly talented at it. Fortunately for her, she was always drawn to writing. She is still known to take the occasional dance class but prefers to watch.

Snail mail:
Rachel Howard
SF Writers Grotto
490 2nd St., Suite 200
San Francisco CA 94107