Rachel Thompson grew up in Dauphin, Manitoba, located at the foot of Riding Mountain National Park, AKA the Galloping Goose of Margaret Laurence's books. She went to the University of Winnipeg, majoring in English and International Development Studies. After moving to Vancouver in the early 2000s, she took part in the award-winning Writer's Studio Program at Simon Fraser University. She completed Galaxy at the Banff Centre for the Arts Wired Writers program. Her poetry has appeared in journals in Canada and abroad.