 She grew up in Seattle, Washington, the daughter of a Chinese-American mother and a Norwegian father and received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Washington, as well as a Master of Arts degree from the University of Toronto for Medieval Studies and a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Michigan.Rekdal is a professor at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, and at Goddard College's low-residency Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing program in Port Townsend, Washington.She is also credited with having created the community web project Mapping Salt Lake City

Her work appeared in "Black Warrior Review, Denver Quarterly, Michigan Quarterly Review," "Narrative" Magazine, "Nerve, New England Review, The New York Times Magazine, NPR, Ploughshares, Prairie Schooner, Quarterly West", The Virginia Quarterly Review, and "Blackbird".