Chris Garsteck is a twenty five year old living in southwestern Pennsylvania with three cats and a dog. Go Pens. They currently work at a gas station. It’s not the most glamorous job but it pays the bills (and for plane tickets). While unpublished at the moment, they are seeking publication in literary journals.
Under the name Chris Garsteck, they write journalistic pieces that dive into the things people love. Their works range from deep dives into the deeply conservative sport of hockey to an exploration of the annual New York yarn crawl held each September.
Under Jude Walski, they write personal/memoir style creative non-fiction. Topics range from the sexualization they faced as a child to reflections about traveling to Montreal, Quebec solo. The choice to use a pseudonym for personal works might seem odd.
However, it was made out of practicality as their real name is vital to their credibilty in more journalistic works. Also, it just felt right to create some distance between the deeply personal works and who they are—after all each work offers only a glimpse of the author and not the reality of the author as a person.