Who Is Louise Rafkin, and What Does She Write?

Updated

Louise Rafkin is a journalist and author based in the Oakland and San Francisco area, best known for her New York Times contributions — including the Vows column and "Unhitched," a column about divorce — and for her memoir Other People's Dirt, which was translated into several languages and is now available as an e-book. If you're trying to place her name, find a specific column, or decide whether her work is worth following, her own site (louiserafkin.com) is the most direct starting point.

What she writes

Rafkin's work spans memoir, long-form journalism, columns, and video profiles. Her site describes her beat simply: "I have big curiosity about most things." That curiosity shows up as first-person reporting and observation rather than a single narrow specialty.

Work Type Notes
Other People's Dirt Memoir Translated into several languages; now an e-book
"Unhitched" Column About divorce, launched at The New York Times
Vows Column She writes it "often" for The New York Times
Harriet the Spy Influence The book that prompted her to become a journalist

Her site also links to pieces at Salon and elsewhere, including "Let your Dying Dog Sleep" (Salon) and "Don't Get a Tattoo!" (NYT), plus reported stories such as "Secondhand Tech in Fiji" and a profile of Kowana Banks in video form.

How she got started

Rafkin has kept notebooks since she was eight, after reading Harriet the Spy — still, per her site, her favorite book. She credits that book with pushing her toward journalism and, eventually, a "slew of books." That origin story explains the through-line in her work: close observation of ordinary people and situations, treated as material worth recording.

Where to find her work

The site's portfolio section is organized around clickable items — photos and links that lead to the "back stories" behind each piece. Practical entry points:

  • Portfolio page — the main index of her articles, columns, and video work.
  • "Unhitched" and Vows — search these titles at The New York Times, since the columns live there rather than on her own site.
  • E-book edition of Other People's Dirt — for the memoir, look for the e-book rather than a print copy.
  • Video profiles — at least one linked item, the Kowana Banks profile, is video rather than text.

What to expect if you follow her

Her range is wide — divorce, tattoos, dying pets, secondhand electronics in Fiji, portraits of local figures — so the common thread is voice and curiosity, not subject matter. If you're looking for a single-topic specialist, she isn't one; if you want a reporter who turns everyday observation into narrative, her portfolio is the place to sample that range before deciding what to read first.