Raf Frumkin has lived many lives: freelance journalist, creative writing professor, femme queer woman, Bird Cage-y trans man. 

In this most recent life, she writes novels, essays and screenplays on topics as wide-ranging as philosophy and creativity, gender metaphysics, second-and third-wave feminism, cults, grifts, the American Dream, and the surprising commonalities between the capitalist prosperity gospel and leftist individualism. She would describe herself as a testoform butch lesbian, which is theory-speak for gender non-conforming woman of medical-industrial experience. In other words, she’s escaped the lab for good, and nine out of ten experts agree: her prognosis has never been better!

She has published two novels – The Comedown (Henry Holt, 2018), Confidence (Simon and Schuster, 2023) – and a short story collection, Bugsy (Simon and Schuster, 2024). Confidence was named a New York Times Editor’s Pick and one of the Washington Post’s 50 Notable Works of Fiction. The Comedown was acquired for TV development by Freddie Highmore and Regina King, and then by SONY Trident.

Raf loves teaching about creative writing, philosophy, and the not-so-surprising intersections of the two.